Young Americans filing for bankruptcy is no longer a rare event, it’s a record-setting trend, and the numbers in 2026 prove it. Consumer bankruptcy attorneys are now telling Business Insider that Gen Z and young millennial clients ages 25 to 35 have jumped from historically 5 to 10 percent of their caseloads to as much as 35 percent today. In this video we break down exactly what is driving the Gen Z bankruptcy wave, from buy-now-pay-later debt and student loan defaults to stagnant wages and housing costs that have nearly tripled in three decades. The cost of living is crushing young people, real wages have not budged in 36 years, and the average Gen Z American is now carrying more debt than any generation before them. This is not avocado toast and bad budgeting. This is a structural collapse hitting an entire generation, and the bankruptcy court filings are the receipts.
1. If a generation is hitting bankruptcy court before their thirty-fifth birthday, what does that say about the economy they inherited?
2. How does easy access to buy now, pay later credit speed up financial collapse for young Americans?
3. Why is no one in Washington tracking the age of bankruptcy filers, and what does that hide from the public?
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