Study Reports Roughly 6 Million Americans Under 18 Have a Credit Card

If you have kids, you have undoubtably had a conversation about when the right time would be to get them a savings account, checking account and maybe even a credit card.

As the world continues to evolve with the method of payment most people use, younger people are getting their hands on credit cards. Often, parents add their child as authorized users. A recent study said 8 percent of parents, roughly 6 million people, have arranged for their children under the age of 18 to have a credit card. A surprising number that is due to keep growing as less cash is used and online shopping and bill pay become the norm.

Brooklyn Lowery, a Senior Manager from

CardRatings.com

, weighs in on the trend of younger consumers getting their hands on a credit card while still at home with the watchful eye of mom and dad. In a way, treating a credit card like a driver’s permit is a good idea. You can set the spending limit to keep a $300 burden down from a $3,000 burden. You can stay on top of their payments, teach them the value of building their credit responsibly and even, start building their credit for them (if you make sure your card company reports ALL users).

On the opposite side of the card, allowing children to have seemingly invisible money can be a tough lesson. You spend without any visual indication that money is going out without any coming in??? Your child can also harm your credit! You would be a co-signer in a sense for their credit card, so their mistakes can drastically change your credit score if you don’t stay on top of them. Long term headaches from a short term experiment.

Brooklyn explains more in the podcast above.

Study Reports Roughly 6 Million Americans Under 18 Have a Credit Card

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