Alex Zins will graduate this spring and enter the workforce. But it will be a while before the 22-year-old starts thinking about buying any expensive items, for fear of falling into debt.
Zins is not alone in being afraid of debt, according to a new study from the Pew Research Center. It shows fewer adults younger than 35 are buying homes, owning cars and incurring credit card debt.
“We’re used to thinking about this that way by now,” said Zins, a UF information systems and operations management senior. “When we were looking at colleges, we had to think about the recession and how it would affect our decision.”
That’s no surprise to UF microeconomics professor Mark Rush, who is investigating factors that cause fluctuations in economic activity.
He said avoiding situations that could produce debt is common during a recession.
“Students are leaving college with more college debt, which is making them a little wary about taking additional debt for a home or car because they are concerned about paying off student loans,” Rush said.
The study showed the share of younger households in debt was 78 percent — the lowest since the government began gathering the data.
“Watching the media portray the recession made debt seem like a real thing,” Zins said. “We just had a head start versus students 10 years ago.”
