Economy Has Young People Living On the Edge

A poll done for Qvisory, an online advocacy organization aimed at helping young adults manage economic and lifestyle issues, revealed that the results of conservative economic policies have taken a severe tool on people between the ages of 18 and 35. In the Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research poll :

• Fifty-five percent said that their finances, the economic squeeze and money are their biggest problems. Young people simply do not believe they have enough money to keep pace with the cost of living.
• Forty-eight percent of young people worry frequently about making ends meet, and another 38 percent worry at least occasionally about making ends meet. Thirty-seven percent of parents also worry frequently about their children being able to make ends meet.
• The percentage of young people holding almost every form of debt, other than mortgages and auto loans, is up from 2007. That includes credit card debt (52 percent, up from 49 percent), student loans (37 percent, up from 31 percent), unpaid medical bills (28 percent, up from 23 percent), loans from parents (20 percent, up from 12 percent) and payday loans (6 percent, up from 4 percent).
• A small, but significant, minority report having their phone, cable or utilities cut off because they failed to pay their bill (19 percent) or have had their credit revoked, including a repossession or card cancellation (15 percent), in the last year. A large number of young people say they only pay the minimum monthly amount on their credit cards (57 percent) or that they have paid a late fee on a card (36 percent) in the past year.