Delinquency pickup

Historically, the percentage of young borrowers transitioning to serious delinquency (90+ days overdue) has been about 2 percentage points higher than that of older generations. A first exception occurred during the Great Recession, when serious delinquency increased significantly for all generations. While in 2021 serious delinquency reached its all-time low for all generations, the decline was dramatic especially for younger borrowers due to the pause in student loan payments, which suspended payments and interest throughout the pandemic. However, since 2022 the rate of transition to serious delinquency has begun to rise again, especially among borrowers in their twenties, so that the gap between younger borrowers and others has begun to widen again.

Source: New York Fed Consumer Credit Panel/Equifax, July 2024.