The Average Millennial Has $27,900 In Debt And Feels Very Guilty
Millennials carry an average of $27,900 in debt, not including mortgages, according to new data released today by Northwestern Mutual. Gen Z, the oldest of whom are now 22 years old, have an average debt of $14,700.
Having sizable debt at a young age “is the new normal,” said Chantel Bonneau, wealth management advisor at Northwestern Mutual. “There are lots of people who exit school, and before they start their first job, have debt. That is a different situation from 30 years ago.”
Millennials’ main source of debt is credit card bills, and Gen Z’s is student loans. In a previous poll by CreditCards.com, 40% millennials said the top reason they carried a credit card balance was daily expenses such as groceries, childcare, and utilities, and about 20% pointed to unexpected emergencies such as medical bills and car repairs. Bonneau said discretionary expenses such as vacations and eating meals out also contribute to credit card debt.
About 45% of millennials and 43% of Gen Z reported feeling guilty about their debt at least every month — more than other age groups. But debt is a major stressor across age groups. One-fifth of all respondents said their debt made them physically ill at least monthly, 45% said it made them anxious at least monthly, and 35% said they felt guilty once a month or more.
Debt — from student loans in particular — has become a regular part of the millennial financial picture. Pew Research Center said in a report earlier this year, “The share of young adult households with any student debt doubled from 1998 (when Gen Xers were ages 20 to 35) to 2016 (when millennials were that age). In addition, the median amount of debt was nearly 50% greater for millennials with outstanding student debt ($19,000) than for Gen X debt holders when they were young ($12,800).”
Last year, millennials had a median household income of about $71,400, according to Pew — but thanks to their debt, their savings lag behind what older generations had in the bank at the same age. The median net worth of millennial households was about $12,500 in 2016, compared with $20,700 for households headed by Boomers the same age in 1983.
It can be hard to save when more than 10% of your income goes toward consumer debt payments, Bonneau said.
Millennials stressed from tech and social media overload
Burnout is now recognized as a legitimate medical diagnosis, according to the International Classification of Diseases from the World Health Organization.
And it happens to all of us from time to time. But how do employees limit digital workplace-related stress and overcome the tech backlash that drives inefficiency?
East Weymouth, Mass.-based online acupuncture supply company Lhasa OMS surveyed 2,010 millennials in June 2019 to learn more about their stress levels. It wanted to find out what impact stress has on their lives and their coping methods.
Americans work longer hours and have more stress-related illnesses than in other countries. Stress can affect your thoughts, your behavior, and your health. Almost four out of five (78%) respondents believe that life is more stressful today than for previous generations.
It is not surprising as workers who work a 42-hour week on average report feeling extreme burnout.