Millennials Shockingly Unaware of How Credit Works

Millennials is a term which refers to American citizens who were born between 1980 and 1996. This group of Americans is known for its adoption of technology – it grew up with the personal computer after all – and for being more aware of the world around them. Millennials are regarded as being more likely to be interested in such concepts as fair trade products and sustainable living than their parents. But, according to a new study, Millennials have relatively little knowledge relating to their own credit and credit scores.

A recently published study by the Consumer Federation of America and Vantage Score Solutions indicates that Americans aged 18 to 34 do not make it a habit to stress over their credit reports and credit scores, and that only about 50% of the group has ever ordered a copy of their credit report. By contrast, the survey indicated that 75% of older Americans had checked their credit reports at least once. Additionally, Millennials were found to be more likely to believe that credit repair services can help fix one’s credit and that age plays a role in credits scoring. Perhaps not surprisingly, Millennials also indicated more willingness to believe that the government is involved in maintaining consumer credit information, which is untrue.

Shockingly, only 18% of Millennials were aware that companies such as cell phone carriers and mortgage lenders can use a person’s credit in the course of doing business. Another interesting finding was that Millennials who had gone online and requested a free copy of their credit reports, which is available through annualcreditreport.com, tended to know far more about credit than their peers who had not. Even Millennials who were familiar with credit scoring did not have the same level of overall credit knowledge as those who had requested their credit reports online.

For more from Time, click here.

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