Summary
While young people’s post-recession lifestyles include fewer homes, fewer cars and less credit card debt, their student loan debt has skyrocketed
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Between 2001 and 2010, the median debt of households headed by someone under 35 fell by 14 percent, while median debt of older households rose by 63 percent. Homeownership plays a big role in that, the study concluded. Younger households are less likely to own a home (and have a mortgage) than they were in 2001, while older household are more likely to own a home and the debt that comes with it.
While young people have been shedding some kinds of debt, they’ve been packing on student loans. Older households saw a modest uptick in student debt between 2001 and 2010, but younger households saw a rapid increase.
The chart below shows the share of households with various types of debt. For young households, all debt categories took a dramatic downward turn after the 2007 recession, except for student loan debt, which shot up.

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