💉 ‘Brotox’ is just the beginning

After a 42-month freeze, interest on federal student loans will begin accruing again today following Congress’ vote in May.

The pause, which was instituted in March 2020 as a form of pandemic relief and has been extended 8x, affects ~44m borrowers who owe an average of ~$38k.

When the pandemic hit, the Department of Education automatically paused loan payments and suspended interest, saving borrowers a combined $5B per month.

Along with resuming interest accrual today, payments are set to restart in October. (The exact date will vary by borrower.)

The change has left many in the lurch

• Millions of borrowers graduated during the pandemic, making this their first experience with repayments.
• Changes to repayment plans from the Biden administration, while helpful for some borrowers, have added complexity to the process.
• Four in 10 borrowers’ loans were transferred to a new service during the pause, and many are receiving payment schedules via email from providers they’re unfamiliar with.

The biggest issue: Only half of borrowers know how much they’ll owe when payments start back up.

The confusion has led to long wait times and dropped calls for many when trying to reach loan representatives.

This is no pocket change

Student loan debt is the second-biggest consumer debt category (following mortgages) and it’s approaching $1.8T, of which 93% is federal debt.

Plus, inflation has driven up housing and food costs since 2020, making the average debt payment of ~$500 an even bigger burden than before.

This has real economic repercussions

• Student debt accounts for an estimated 20% of the decline in homeownership for young adults.
• Borrowers contribute 6% less, on average, to retirement savings than those without student debt.
• For every 1% increase of a consumer’s debt-to-income ratio, their consumption declines by up to 3.7%.

Some experts predict that consumer spending could drop $27B per quarter, and that certain industries — such as ecommerce, retail, and hospitality — will be especially hard-hit.

The silver lining? More companies are offering student loan repayment benefits to attract top talent.

Sure, Barbie is the hit of the summer. Sure, Ryan Gosling looks dreamy in it.

But don’t be fooled by those blaming Ken’s chiseled looks for a sudden rise in male aesthetic procedures like “brotox” (botulinum toxin injections, but for men).

Dudes had already been making smooth moves in that direction, per American Society of Plastic Surgeons data.

• American men opting for “minimally-invasive” cosmetic procedures increased 29% between 2000 and 2020, long before Gosling added a new wrinkle.

Where’d this come from?

It’s a comparative drop in the bucket — over the same period, women notched a 114% uptick — but female dominion over the aesthetics business is nothing new.

Male cosmetic enhancements, on the other hand, make for a stigma-busting trend.

• A med-spa owner told the New York Post she has “observed a steady increase in male patients,” crediting it to a “changing attitude towards self-care and grooming.”
• The Guardian cheekily, but accurately, notes the beauty industry is resetting men’s standards because it’s “reached a point of total saturation when it comes to making women feel insecure about their appearance.”
• One plastic surgeon put it simply for The Post: “Men want to look good too!”

Back to “brotox”

While treatments like laser skin resurfacing and microdermabrasion have also taken off, “brotox” — a play on popular injection brand Botox — is the most common cosmetic procedure among men.

• American men had 265k+ total botulinum toxin injections in 2020 — a 182% increase compared to 2000 — adding to a $6.4B Botox market.

Dousing this trend in gasoline: TikTok and celebs, naturally. On TikTok, the hashtag #brotox has accumulated 18.1m views, while Joe Jonas is playing spokesmodel, saying injectables are “not a big deal.”

Oh, but they are, Joe: Patients can’t lay down for 2-4 hours after getting Botox shots. The Jonas Brothers must not be big fans of napping like we are.