Squeezed by inflation, more Americans fall behind on their debts

Credit card and auto loan delinquencies are near historic highs as rising prices leave more people struggling to keep up with payments. Rising U.S. prices are squeezing household budgets, causing more Americans to fall behind on their debt payments, recent financial data shows. The share of seriously delinquent auto loan balances has hit a record high this year, while nearly 13% of credit card balances are seriously past due — close to their 2010 peak in the aftermath of the housing crisis — according to recent data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The share of households behind on their mortgages reached a six-year high, although the measure remains far below its peak during the Great Recession.

Student loan delinquencies have also jumped in the past year, with the rise tied to the end of pandemic-era protections and a Biden administration repayment plan. More than half of Americans relied on credit cards to pay for basic needs like groceries, rent and utilities, according to a March survey from Debt.com. Almost six in 10 said inflation was causing them to carry a bigger credit card balance than a year earlier, the same survey found. Many Americans are frustrated with the U.S. economy, even as measures such as GDP growth and unemployment remain relatively solid. After five years of elevated