Credit cards offer plenty of perks, from rewards on every purchase to 0% APRs. But credit cards can also get us into trouble if we aren’t careful. Reducing debt and adopting sustainable spending habits are particularly important, so WalletHub decided to see how consumers are approaching those tasks.
We performed a nationally representative survey online. You can find the complete results in the infographic below, along with some key takeaways from WalletHub’s latest Credit Card Debt Study.
Key Stats:
- 95 million Americans admit they'd go into debt for frivolous purchases.
- Young people are 27% more likely to go into credit card debt for frivolous purchases than people over the age of 59.
- Nearly 9 in 10 Americans say their personal finances are currently run better than the federal government.
- 2X more Democrats than Republicans think another recession will happen within one year.
- Women are 48% less likely than men to be embarrassed by people seeing how much credit card debt they have.
- More than one-third of people (37%) say they would do anything to get out of credit card debt.
- Millennials are more than 3X more likely than baby boomers to agree to house arrest for a year in exchange for credit card debt freedom. They’re also 43% more likely to leave the country.
Full Details Overall
| Will you to try to lower the interest rate on your credit card debt in 2020? | |
|---|---|
| Yes | 75% |
| No | 25% |
| How long will it take you to be debt-free when it comes to credit-card debt? | |
| Less than 1 year | 39% |
| 1-2 years | 27% |
| More than 2 years | 25% |
| I don’t know | 9% |
| Roughly how much credit card debt do Americans owe? | |
| $100 billion | 32% |
| $1 trillion | 28% |
| $10 billion | 24% |
| $1 billion | 12% |
| $100 trillion | 4% |
| Do you have more or less credit card debt than you did 12 months ago? | |
| Less | 59% |
| More | 41% |
| Will you have more or less credit card debt by the end of 2020? | |
| Less | 81% |
| More | 19% |
| What type(s) of purchases are worth going into credit card debt for? (select all that apply) | |
| Health care | 61% |
| Housing | 45% |
| Travel | 38% |
| Electronics | 20% |
| Clothing | 19% |
| Dining | 15% |
| Entertainment | 14% |
| Would go into CC debt for frivolous spending? | |
| Yes | 65% |
| No | 35% |
| Which is better run right now? | |
| Your personal finances | 87% |
| The federal government | 13% |
| Which are people worst at saving for? | |
| Retirement | 51% |
| Emergency fund | 31% |
| Kids’ college | 10% |
| New home | 4% |
| Vacation | 4% |
| Do you remember why you got into credit card debt? | |
| Yes | 87% |
| No | 13% |
| How does credit card debt make you feel? | |
| Stressed | 44% |
| Normal | 33% |
| Depressed | 11% |
| Embarrassed | 6% |
| Angry | 6% |
| Which would you do to get out of credit card debt? | |
| Go streaking in the winter | 38% |
| Anything | 37% |
| Leave the country | 9% |
| House arrest for a year | 8% |
| Change your name | 8% |
| Which would you be more embarrassed about? | |
| People seeing you naked | 76% |
| People seeing how much credit card debt you have | 24% |
| How close do you think we are from another recession? | |
| 3 years or more | 39% |
| 2 years | 33% |
| 1 year | 28% |
Note: Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding.