Teenagers and their Credit Cards Essay -- credit

Teenagers and their computer address Cards         Availability of credit cards have left young people in debt.  College-age students and low-income consumers, typic everyy deemed freehanded risks, are easy targets for credit card companies.  Credit card companies should not target college-age students and low-income consumers because of their lack of financial stability.  In 1996, twenty-something consumers owed an average of $2,400 on their credit cards, close triple what they owed in 1990, according to research by Claritas Inc., a marketing research firm in Virginia.  If, payments of  $75 were made monthly to pay turned a $2,400 debt, it would take 3-1/2 years with a 16 percent-rate card, and youd pay $ 750 in interest.        Theres no question that young adults are the most heavily burdened by credit card debt, said Stephen Brobeck, executive director of the Consumer Federation of America.  Many will plung e into debt.  Many teens waste little time taking on debt after leaving home.  The number of 18 and 19 year olds with credit cards in their own name is climbing, according to Teenage search Unlimited.  Of American teen between 18 and 20 years old, 41 percent have their own cards, compared with 36 percent operate year.         Across all age groups, the statistics dont paint a pretty picture.  Bankruptcy fillings in the United States have more than doubled in the last decade, from 530, 436 in 1986 to 1.2 million last years.  Americans owe $ 484.6 billion in credit card debit, up from $ 437.9 billion in 1996, according to the Federal Reserve Board.  That National Foundation for Consumer... ...bsp Works Cited   Evans, David, Richard Schmalensee.  paying(a) with Plastic  The Digital Revolution in Buying and Borrowing.  Massachusetts  Massachusetts Institute, 2000 Citibank.  Citibank, Nader and the Facts.  Ne w York  First National City Bank, 1974. Kaminow, Ira, James OBrien. Studies In Selective Credit Policies.  Philadelphia  Federal Reserve Bank, 1975. Mandell, Lewis.  The Credit Card History  A History.  Boston  Twayne, 1990. Manning, Robert.  Credit Card Nation  The Consequences of Americas Addiction to Credit.  New York  Basic Books, 2000. Poltos, Pearl, Bob Oskam.  well-off Guide to Good Credit.  New York  Berkley Books, 1990. Wood, Oliver, William Barskdale.  How to Borrow Money.  New York  Van Nostrand, 1981.