As student debt piles up, a new generation of college students are feeling the bind from family loan obligations that have stretched across decades.

"We're in the early stages of a major social transformation," said Josh Boak, reporter at the Associated Press. "Right now there's about $1.2 trillion in outstanding student loans. We've seen that share disproportionately now belong to people who are older than forty."

That has major consequences for children and the families they support, said Boak, especially as children get ready to head off to college themselves.

Boak explores this issue further in his article, "A multigenerational hit: Student debt traps parents and kids."