Millennial women have more debt, but better credit than men
A new Lending Tree survey of nearly 1,000 Millennial men and women found a gender divide within that generation on debt and credit.
“Millennial women had much higher student debt, credit card debt and just debt in general with an average of more than $68,000 compared to $53,000 of debt for Millennial men,” the FOX Business Network’s Tracee Carrasco said.
On the other hand, Millennial women’s credit scores were better, suggesting that they may be more responsible in paying down that debt.
According to Recon Capital Partners CIO Kevin Kelly, the statistics on college attendance support the disparity between Millennial women and men’s student debt.
“We’re seeing that play out, that more women are actually enrolling and going to four-year schools and getting their college education – I mean I think it’s somewhere around 52% to 48%.”
The FOX Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo also weighed in, saying “And definitely going to higher education…much more in terms of getting medical degrees and law degrees.”
In addition to dealing with debt, Millennials are faced with a bearish outlook for Social Security.
“I think that in the Millennial generation, there is actually a greater or better understanding of just how badly they’re going to get hosed down the road when it comes to things like retirement savings in the Social Security program,” Lanhee Chen, former policy director for Mitt Romney, said.
According to Chen, however, the grim outlook for Social Security could drive Millennials to take more control over their financial future.
“I think it’s good because it drives their desire then to save more now, to use private vehicles, 401(k)s, various sort of private sector savings vehicles to save up that money.”