(Photo: Getty Images)
Millennials and Gen Z are reducing their average amount of debt while baby boomers are increasing their debt, new data from LendingTree shows.
LendingTree, an online loan marketplace, conducted a study that analyzed over 340,000 anonymous credit reports from their users. The study showed that millennials reduced their average amount of debt by $9,117 between 2019 and 2021 and for Gen Z it declined by $2,500.
Gen X also saw a decline and the average debt declined $3,770, according to the study. However, baby boomers increased their debt by the largest amount over the same period, which was a substantial $8,848.
“In most cases, the pandemic wasn’t the economic meltdown for baby boomers that it was for younger generations, so many boomers may have still felt comfortable taking on a little bit of debt because they felt secure in their financial situation,” Matt Schulz, LendingTree chief credit analyst, said, according to Fast Company.
Millennials and Gen Zers have different spending priorities such as experiences, including travel, concerts, festivals, happy hours, restaurants or coffee. The main concerns of many baby boomers at this stage in life revolve around retirement and healthcare.
Student loan debt accounted for a huge amount of millennial and Gen Z debt at 20.4% and 24.6% respectively. For baby boomers, 69.6% of their debt was in mortgages.