Adults In Deeper Debt At Younger Age

[jeffrey]

A report recently released by Demos, a non-partisan, public policy group based in New York City shows that young adults are treading a thin line with their early build up of credit card debt. Among the key findings of the report

* The average credit card debt among adults aged 25 to 34 increased 55% between 1992 and 2001, to $4,088.

* The average indebted household with adults aged 25 to 34 now spends spends nearly 25 cents of every dollar earned on debt payments.

* Among the two-thirds of households with adults aged 25 to 34 with incomes below $50,000, nearly one in five with credit card debt spends more than 40% of their income servicing debt including mortgages and student loans.

* Adult households aged 18 to 24 with debt spend nearly 30 cents of every dollar earned servicing debt -- twice the amount they spent on average in 1992.

* Credit card debt among adults aged 18 to 24 increased over 100% since 1992 to $2,985.

The report finds that these debt increases have been caused due to major cost increases in such areas a housing, child care and health care over the last 10 years. These increases, in combination with other factors such as slow real-wage growth and sharp tuition hikes have also led to larger student loans and more overall debt upon leaving school.