Inflation is making it difficult for many American families to make ends meet. With everyday essentials like food and gas increasing in price, LendingTree found that 43% of Americans expect to add to their debt in the next six months, especially parents with young children.
LendingTree team surveyed over 1,000 U.S. consumers to understand how inflation is impacting their relationship with debt and how they’re managing that debt. A quick look at the latest study:
- 43% of Americans expect to add debt in the next six months. Parents with children younger than 18 are most likely to expect to take on debt during the second half of the year, at 58%.
- The most common reasons consumers are in debt are necessities (30%), emergencies (26%), and health or medical issues (25%)
- By age group, younger consumers expect to take on debt more than older consumers: 56% of millennials ages 26 to 41 expect to take on more debt compared to 21% of baby boomers ages 57 to 76.
- Credit cards are the most common source of future debt for consumers — just over 2 in 10 (22%) consumers expect to take on credit card debt. This is particularly true for those with good FICO scores between 670 to 739 (33%).
You can view the full study here: LendingTree’s Debt During Inflation Survey.
LendingTree’s Chief Credit Analyst, Matt Schulz, had this to say: “The truth is that debt can be either a sign of confidence or struggle, and I suspect we’re seeing the effect of both of those in our data. Many people take on debt because they feel good about their financial situation and aren’t too worried about paying a little interest if it gets them what they want or need. Plenty of others take on debt because they have to. There’s no question that both situations are happening right now.”