Younger Borrowers Are Struggling with Credit Card and Auto Loan Payments

Haughwout, Andrew F.; Lee, Donghoon; Mangrum, Daniel; Scally, Joelle; Van der Klaauw, Wilbert

Discussion Paper

Younger Borrowers Are Struggling with Credit Card and Auto Loan Payments

Abstract: Total debt balances grew by $394 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022, the largest nominal quarterly increase in twenty years, according to the latest Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit from the New York Fed’s Center for Microeconomic Data. Mortgage balances, the largest form of household debt, drove the increase with a gain of $254 billion, while credit card balances saw a $61 billion increase—the largest observed in the history of our data, which goes back to 1999.

Keywords: consumer credit panel; delinquency;

JEL Classification: D14;