Younger Canadians may be feeling a bigger burden from higher interest rates than older cohorts, with a new report from TransUnion showing millennials are holding the largest share of debt in the country and gen Z are seeing one of the biggest jumps in outstanding balances.bureau’s report published Tuesday took a look at the Canadian consumer credit market and found that total debt rose to $2.38 trillion in the first quarter of 2024, up from $2.
That gets exacerbated when the interest rate goes up because now all of a sudden, the cost of the debt they’re holding increases and so their minimum payment goes up. And so they have to allocate more to that debt.”Part of it may come from a lack of financial literacy, including around revolving balances, Fabian notes.
However, Ahmed-Haq notes while millennials are facing debt as they try to build their lives and have costs like mortgages and even child-care expenses, Gen Z are a different category and suggests guiding this group while still allowing them to make mistakes.Higher airfares, customer complaints fuelling study into Canada’s airline sector
Fabian added TransUnion has seen Gen Z also using credit cards less and taking out more in terms of personal loans in part due to the uncertainty of credit card interest.