Lowered adult age sees rise in young Japanese struggling with debt

With personal bankruptcy occurring as early as 19, government agencies are doubling efforts to raise public awareness about the issue. Consumer affairs experts, meanwhile, warn that cases thus far are likely to be only the tip of the iceberg.

Japanese banking and financial industry rubbing its hand together:

Excellent. All going according to according to plan.

Lowering the voting age to 18 was never meant to empower young people, just get more ensnared in taxation and financialization and assorted responsibilities at an earlier age as the population of workers shrinks.

A lot of university students in the US and young adults right out of high school get caught in the student loan and/or credit card trap (debt) because of lack of financial mentors or formal financial literacy.

@robert mass

Do you have supporting data... just asking.

I do have something related to that.. in fact it does kind of support your theory of "Japanese lacking maturity" but then again... there are a bunch of other countries in that same level too...

It is 10 year old data so, it may be different now, but it can be used as reference

https://www.forbes.com/sites/travisbradberry/2013/08/17/the-most-and-least-emotionally-aware-countries/

Now, measuring maturity depends on what are you measuring and what set of data your are using so it is kinda subjective...

Data from the OECD, shows that Japan has one of the lowest social networks, meaning very little social interaction with other people outside of the inmediate family and/or work circles.

Also a low voter turn out...

So if you are referring as to inmaturity based on those data I suppose you are right... but then again, I don't know if social network and voter turnour are aqurate measures for "mental maturity"....

I think this news is troubling, but I cannot blame these people when a whole society is built around the idea that shopping is a hobby (which it isn't). Consumerism in Japan is disgusting

These are the victims of TAGETED adds by major banks that offers Credit cards with NO FEES and High credit Limits, the very same people that were pushing the the government to lower the adult age. I won't mention the names of the banks bcz,. my post will be removed for sure but let me just hint with first letter "S".

This bank is actually connected with schools and universities were they have access to students to sell their products and I am NOT joking, I have seen it first hand,.

Don't Blame the teens, Blame the Scammers and Thieves that are targeting them knowing that they are incapable of resisting the offers made to them.

The Japanese government is the one to blame for leaving this door WIDE OPEN for all the loans SHARKS. Should have kept the minimum age for loans and credit cards where it was.

A lot of university students in the US and young adults right out of high school get caught in the student loan and/or credit card trap (debt) because of lack of financial mentors or formal financial literacy.

Not that the US is mentioned anywhere in the article. But yes the US financial industry is highly predatory.

And Japan is marching in step in that direction, targeting both the young and the old.

the penalty from the continuing blind westernization of japan. it will only get worse.

It called Adulting

No, the same would have been in debt at 20. It is just a shift.

Do not spend more than what you have. The recipe is simple.

And who didn't forsee this happening?

So they changed the law to recognise 18 year olds as "adults" which allows them to to now get get a credit card and to vote. Before, at 18 they were pretty much only allowed to get a driver's license and to work in the "adult" entertainment industry. I think marriage was from 16.

But they won't allow them to gamble, smoke or drink. It's as if the authorities want to classify then as adults but not allow them many of the vices that adults are allowed, not until they are 20, anyway.

That is some contradictory policy for you.

I'm glad I didn't qualify for my first credit card until I was about 40.

18 is a recipe for disaster.

I got a credit card at 18 and immediately ran into trouble. When I asked my (extremely rich) mother for help, she said, "Work it off."

That was the only lesson I needed, and I'm 60 now.

And what lunatic thought that there would be no problems. Give an 18 year old a credit card and their brain will go... woooohooooo. money. As if they have any concept of compounding interest, debt, even if the salesman or cute sales girls flogs those cards to teens. This is boom time fro credit card companies, and pain for some kids. Rename credit to the word debt, then they will get the true meaning of that little piece of plastic. Its not the kids fault..if the CC companies.

Also its the governments fault, cause they'll collect the sales tax.One way or another!

My son has ADHD and it is a challenge as he is growing and becoming stronger day by day physically but not mentally.

He doesnt like going to traditional school and spends time on video games.

Recently we started sending him to a special school. I see some improvement in his attitude.

But i worry how he will end up when he becomes adult.

With as strict CC companies are with foreigners it’s amazing how loose they are with locals.

The teens are definitely to blame. Spending what you don't have and blaming your decisions on someone else. Japan, don't import bad habits!

japanguyToday  10:31 pm JST

My son has ADHD and it is a challenge as he is growing and becoming stronger day by day physically but not mentally. 

He doesnt like going to traditional school and spends time on video games. 

Recently we started sending him to a special school. I see some improvement in his attitude.

But i worry how he will end up when he becomes adult

Totally. These are the kids the credit card companies just love to sell CC too. Since they make a decision on the here and now, and not fully aware of the consequences. Money management is a hard thing. As for the mother in the article, I can't imagine how hard it was for her too. And her son. I too had a very hard time with ADHD, and sometimes i fell short as a parent.

One thing is for sure, the government are just happy to get the tax revenues, company profit revenues, and in their minds, the very few who have big problems are ignored and blames, and are outweighed by the governments percieved benefits of giving debt to the many. I hope the courts, go lightly on certain groups of people who may fall prey to the Credit card companies. As if they give a......!!!!

In my early 20's I got myself into deep credit card debt and there was no one to bail me out and it was so stressful, and I was making the bare minimum payments on them, but I was determined to get out under without declaring bankruptcy and did because of payouts I got from a car accident I was in. After that, I moved to Japan and blessedly years ago many Japanese stores took cash only and I never got back into debt.

There is one other point I want people to know and that many don't know about credit cards and that is not written in bold letters is when you take cash off your credit cards. Once you take cash off your credit cards there is an immediate daily interest fee, yes daily, once that cash enters your hands. Here is another fact, the credit cards will put the bare minimum towards the cash advance, and the remaining amount to the items you charged on your card, and I hope this warning will help you not to AVOID taking that credit card cash advance.

Sorry........AVOID taking credit card cash advances.

This education idea is great. I only wish it had been offered when I was young. There was so much I had to discover. Luckily my wife acted as a painful brake on me over the years until I began to learn.

Watch this investigative reporting by PBS frontline on the secrets of credit cards and how they work.

I wish that Japanese teens could watch this and understand it.

https://www.pbs.org/video/frontline-the-secret-history-of-the-credit-card/

Fire burns like credit loans when you have no money.

It should be only fair if rules are well explained and enlighted consent is given, which is not the case in many cases. Risk should be shared between the loan company and client.

18 or 20, no difference if you don't learn anything.

With Internet, there is no reason not to know.

Whatever his age, a fool and his undeserved money are even more easily parted.

@ WoodyLee I see you received a few thumbs down but I totally agree with you. When I went to college there was not a credit card company on campus. Fast forward twenty some years later I am dropping my daughter off at a big name university and on the quad where all the students hang out there was nothing but a sea of credit card companies inviting the new freshmen to sign up for credit cards. They had a lot of fun and games at the tents and giving away free prizes just to lure the kids in to fill out an application. I told my daughter I said the worst thing you can do is on this campus is sign a pact with the devil. I advised her to stay away from the credit card companies. The following year the party returned and she fell for the trap, I found out she had over $25,000 in debt when she came home I asked her about why the credit card bills was coming to the house I said you don't have a job how are you paying for them. Well crickets finally she called saying she couldn't study and wanted to come home after I had paid thousands in tuition. I asked her why and she told me because of the credit car debt that's I went postal!! I asked if she had selective hearing because I had warned her of what could happen by signing a pact with the devil. I told her now I am wasting college tuition and now you are asking me to pay the debt off. I said ok come home but you are going to find a job and every penny you get will go towards paying that debt off. Well she paid it off in 1.5 years but she learned a valuable lesson. Credit it is a debt trap and the real reason why people are so stressed out. She learned her lesson went back to school finished top of her class have a well paying job and became frugal as hell!!! She will not touch a credit card!! She tells me she have one because airlines will only allow you to get a plane ticket with one but she said as soon as she makes the reservation she pays the credit card once she gets off the phone. I laugh so hard because I saw her struggle but I refuse to help her I told her the help that I tried to give her was advice and that was free she settled for debt which cost her dearly. I agree I saw it first hand and witnessed it these banks do not care!!!

These are the victims of TAGETED adds by major banks that offers Credit cards with NO FEES and High credit Limits, the very same people that were pushing the the government to lower the adult age. I won't mention the names of the banks bcz,. my post will be removed for sure but let me just hint with first letter "S".

This bank is actually connected with schools and universities were they have access to students to sell their products and I am NOT joking, I have seen it first hand,

Welcome to the adult world.

This education idea is great. I only wish it had been offered when I was young. There was so much I had to discover. Luckily my wife acted as a painful brake on me over the years until I began to learn.

Couldn't agree with you more on this. Actually, my financial education came when I worked as an assistant finance director for a public reolations firm. At the same time, I was taking accounting classes towards my business university degree. I learned about accounting tools and took it upon myself to do a financial analysis on my spending and bills. This analysis hit me hard when I learned how much I was paying in credit card interest. I could have had a few vacations or made investments with the interest I was paying. I don't blame my parents, but they told me that I didn't have to pay the entire bill; just the minimum payments. Well, those minimums do add up.

My first and only credit card was at the age of 40 and I've only used it to pay tolls (ETC). Never been interested into credit. I only buy what I can.

After seeing my best friend back in the days, at the age of 18 or 19 getting credit card after credit card, then having to spend the following ten years working just so he could pay those cards off, really unencouraged from getting into credit cards.

And before that, seeing my brother at mid 20's getting all the stuff he bought on credit, repossessed by banks and others. Plus my late dad kicking him out of the house for ruining his perfect credit score, was epic. My brother was the kind of guy no one would want to mess with (we're from a bad neighborhood somewhere in Latin America) and that was the only time I saw him crying.

So yeah. I learned I did not want a credit card from early age.