NEW YORK—As high inflation forces Americans to spend more on gas and bills, young and low-income consumers are starting to feel financial pressure.
Generation Z consumers and those with low credit scores are falling behind on credit card and auto loan bills and accumulating credit card debt at a pace not seen since before the pandemic.
For instance, credit card balances for people ages 25 and younger rose by 30 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, compared with an increase of just 11 percent among the broader population, according to a random sampling of 12.5 million U.S. credit files compiled by credit score company VantageScore. Balances for non-prime borrowers, or people with credit scores below 660, rose by nearly 25 percent over the same period….