'We Are Crushing the Next Generation': Young Millennials Saddled With $1,005,000,000,000 in Student Debt

Underscoring the need for progressive proposals like tuition-free college and debt relief, new data shows young Americans are being crushed by debt.

In the last quarter of 2018, outstanding student loan debt went up $15 billion to $1.46 trillion. Credit card balances shot up as well, raising $26 billion to $870 billion, according to (pdf) the most recent quarterly housefold debt report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Center for Microeconomic Data.

The youngest age bracket in the report, those aged 19-29, had over $1 trillion in debt in 2018. “That’s the highest debt exposure for the youngest adult group since late 2007,” Bloomberg reported. Moreover, “Student loans make up the majority of the $1,005,000,000,000 owed by this cohort, followed by mortgage debt,” the reporting adds.

“We are crushing the next generation with debt,” tweeted Democratic presidential hopeful and Universal Basic Income proponent Andrew Yang in response to the findings.