Study Says Millions of American Will Die With Credit ... - Bankruptcy

By John Clark

Millions of Americans will likely go to their graves owing some money to credit card lenders, according to an unsettling report from the Huffington Post.

Sources say people who are currently in their late 20s and early 30s carry a much larger amount of credit card debt than their older peers, and researchers from Ohio State University believe this trend will continue for the foreseeable future.

Young Americans Have More Credit Card Debt

According to researchers, Americans born between 1980 and 1984 owe, on average, roughly $5,700 more to their credit card companies than do people who were born between 1950 and 1954.

And the figures are more staggering if one looks at older populations. Sources note that the average young person owes $8,200 more than the average person born between 1920 and 1924.

Equally troubling is the fact that young people are slower to pay off their debts than older Americans, as well as the reality that this trend will likely plague young Americans into retirement, according to researchers.

The study also seems relatively sound, as it surveyed more than 32,000 consumers over the course of twelve years, and was recently published in the journal Economic Inquiry.

Some of the factors cited by researchers that likely contribute to the generational debt disparity include stagnant wages over the past several years, as well as the massive job losses incurred during the recent recession.

But these trends may only trouble young Americans in the short term. Some analysts fear that the high levels of consumer debt and bankruptcy among young people may also be attributable to the Internet revolution.

Online Shopping Leads to Major Increase in Consumer Debt

According to Stuart Vyse, a professor of psychology at Connecticut College, Americans who were born between 1980 and 1984 were the first wave of people to be subjected to online consumption.

Before the advent of the Internet, shopping required physical activities, such as ?getting in the car, going somewhere, climbing stairs, lifting,? according to Vyse.

Today, however, Vyse says that shopping is much easier to practice from the comfort of one?s own home, which he claims results in ?more impulsive decisions? because ?our wiser selves don?t have time to be activated.?

Unfortunately, the rise of impulse shopping has coincided with the deepest economic recession in decades. And if younger Americans are serious about reducing their credit card debt, they may have to reconsider their shopping habits.

Source: http://www.clearbankruptcy.com/blog/study-says-millions-of-american-will-die-with-credit-card-debt/

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