More Americans expect to miss a debt payment in the months ahead: What that does to your credit score

Americans haven’t been this worried about falling behind on their debt since the start of the pandemic, new data from the New York Federal Reserve shows.

The central bank’s monthly Survey of Consumer Expectations found that Americans’ perceived probability of missing a minimum debt payment in the coming months rose to the highest level since April 2020.

The increase was most pronounced among adults over the age of 60, those without a college degree and those with annual household incomes below $50,000, according to the New York Fed survey, which polled roughly 1,300 households in December.

It’s an “uncertain time for many Americans,” said Matt Schulz, chief consumer finance analyst at LendingTree. Amid a softening labor market, a growing share of adults are “nervous about their current jobs, worried it’ll take forever to get their next one, concerned that it’ll be harder to get credit and unsure about their ability to make all of their minimum debt payments over the next few months,” he said.

However, even a single missed payment can have lasting financial consequences, LendingTree’s research shows.