Thanks to crushing financial concerns, more Americans are now being forced to put off major life events like going to college, getting married and having kids.

According to a survey released Thursday of 1,010 adults by the American Institute of CPAs, more than half of American adults (51%) say they delayed at least one important life decision — like having kids or retiring — because of financial reasons. This is up from just one in three (31%) who did that in 2007. Despite an improving economy and job market, “the specific life events Americans are delaying for financial reasons have more than doubled from the 2007 survey,” the institute reveals.

This may be thanks to the fact that we’ve learned some hard lessons since the recession, says Ernie Almonte, the chair of the AICPA’s National CPA Financial Literacy Commission, an organization devoted to helping Americans with financial literacy. “When you peel the onion back, you start to see that what they have experienced — their parents, friends losing their homes or jobs or people in so much debt they file for bankruptcy — stuck with them,” he says. “They have learned from those lessons…people are looking at things now and saying ‘I don’t have enough savings for that’ or ‘I will put it off for a year or two until I’m financially stable.’”

6 key life events Americans felt they had to delay due to financial concerns



2007 2015 Higher education 11% 24% Buying a home 14% 22% Medical procedure 9% 19% Retirement 9% 18% Having children 5% 13% Marriage 6% 12%

Source: AICPA

The number of Americans delaying higher education due to financial concerns saw the largest jump since the 2007 survey (from 11% in 2007 to 24% in 2015). This is likely thanks to the skyrocketing costs of college (tuition and fees at public four-year colleges have increased 17% in the past five years, according to The College Board) and other higher education, combined with a fear of being one of the many graduates struggling to get a job amidst record-high levels of student debt, which averages nearly $30,000 per student. Other surveys seem to provide support that people are delaying their higher education: Enrollment in law school has dropped to levels not seen since 1973 http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/12/17/law-school-enrollment-falls-to-lowest-level-since-1987/, and some colleges are seeing enrollment declines as well http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2015/03/04/college-enrollment-trouble-signs/.

Those delaying home buying jumped significantly as well (from 14% to 22%), and this is also reflected in other data — namely that homeownership has hit a 19-year low http://www.nbcnews.com/business/real-estate/nation-renters-fewer-americans-now-own-their-own-homes-n167776. Birth rates have also been falling since the recession (they hit a 15-year low in 2013 http://time.com/3924237/us-birth-rates-increase/) as have marriage rates. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/marriage_divorce_tables.htm

Among the specific financial reasons cited for delaying a life event were a lack of savings (60% said this played a role in their decisions), the economy (50%), difficulty paying non-mortgage-related monthly bills (39%), outstanding medical bills (29%), a need to take care of elderly parents or other relatives (29%), having to pay down credit card debt (28%), concerns about losing their job (27%), and difficulty making mortgage payments (25%).