Gen Z is taking on more credit card debt

Members of Gen Z are starting out their adult lives with more debt. The credit bureau TransUnion is out with more evidence of that in a report this week finding that borrowers aged 22 to 24 are carrying an average of about $2,800 in credit card debt. Adjusted for inflation, that’s about a quarter more than millennials in the same age range a decade ago.

Twenty-somethings a decade ago were slow to start borrowing, per analyst Ted Rossman with Bankrate.

“Millennials were really scarred by the Great Recession,” he said. “But it doesn’t seem like Gen Zers have quite the same stigma surrounding debt.”

The report finds they’re about 20% more likely to have a credit card. But they’re not racking up debt on fun stuff, noted Charlie Wise with TransUnion.

“The Gen Z consumer today is facing significantly higher prices and turning to debt and to credit cards really to kind of help them make ends meet,” he said.

Increasingly they’re carrying credit card debt — with an average of 25% interest.

Ted Rossman said that could prevent young borrowers from making other financial moves down the road, “whether that’s buying a home or getting married or having kids.”

Sound familiar? Maybe millennials and Zoomers aren’t so different.