Debt concerns have shifted away from inflation, but there are other issues
With inflation starting to ease, the millions of Americans with debt are less likely to cite this as an issue, but that doesn’t mean things are looking rosy.
Two new surveys released Monday reveal how reliant consumers are on debt, with 57% telling one poll that they can only get by thanks to their credit cards including 27% who have been building up balances from everyday expenses for at least six months.
Meanwhile, more borrowers are carrying debt from month to month and some are missing payments.
The first survey, from the Achieve Center for Consumer Insights, a think tank connected to the eponymous digital financial platform, polled 2000 American adults with active accounts across categories of consumer debt, including credit cards, mortgages and home equity lines of credit, and auto and student loans.
Within the research a subset of borrowers who had been at least 30 days past a due payment for a credit account at least once in the last six months were asked why this happened. The top reason was job loss or reduced income (18%) followed by those who forgot to pay (10%), increase in the cost of essentials (10%), those who did not want to pay (8%), cashflow management challenges (5%), and interest rate rises (4%).
During the third quarter, 36% of consumers said it is very difficult or difficult for them to pay their recurring debts on time, up from 31% in the second quarter, with 64% of these saying that they don’t make enough money to cover their spending.
Recent positive news about the pace of inflation slowing, and in some cases, even reversing course, appears to be overshadowed by other financial concerns for struggling consumers,” said Achieve Co-Founder and Co-CEO Andrew Housser. “In a sign of the beginnings of
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