> student loans in the USA. They can't be discharged and the debt never goes away.
Yeah, this is a common myth. Student loan payments in the US are limited to 10% of discretionary income for up to 20 years. If you make too little to pay off your loans on the standard 10 year plan you aren't just saddled with the debt forever.
> Student loan payments in the US are limited to 10% of discretionary income for up to 20 years.
No, they aren’t. You can choose an income contingent repayment plan that is limited that way, but it's not the default and servicers steer people beat served by those plans away from them in favor of staying on the standard plans and taking deferments.