How Americans Really Feel About Debt, and Why Talking Helps
- Among respondents with credit card debt, 62% said it's the most stressful debt they've carried.
- Nearly 1 in 2 with debt (48%) had kept a debt secret from someone close to them.
- Nearly 1 in 4 (23%) had hidden a debt, or its true size, from their partner or spouse.
- A quarter of respondents (25%) named credit card balances the debt that makes them the most concerned about building a future with someone.
- About 1 in 4 (24%) felt relief after finally telling someone about a debt.
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Money is personal and so is debt. Debt can affect how people feel about themselves and their relationships. Freedom Debt Relief surveyed 1,003 U.S. adults who carry debt to learn how they rank what they owe by the stress each debt brings, rather than by size, and how talking about it changes things.
The survey explored emotional relationships to different types of debt, and respondents' experiences with concealing and talking about debts with others. The findings show which debts survey respondents found hardest to carry, who they told, and what helped most.
The Most Stressful Debts to Carry
When people ranked their debts by stress instead of size, the same few rose to the top.
Credit card debt sat at the top of the list. Among respondents with credit card debt, 62% said it's the most stressful debt they've carried. Money owed to family or friends stood out in a different way. Nearly 1 in 5 people with debt (19%) said it was a debt they would least want others to know about, a sign of how personal borrowing from loved ones can feel.
Buy now, pay later occupied a middle ground. Most people with debt (68%) still counted it as real debt, even though it landed near the bottom of the stress ranking.
Other debts felt routine by comparison. Many people saw borrowing as a normal part of adult life, with nearly three-quarters (72%) counting a mortgage as ordinary. Gen Z respondents were more likely than Baby Boomers to consider medical debt a normal part of adulthood, at 41% versus 26%.
The Debts We Keep to Ourselves
For a lot of people, the hardest part of debt is admitting it to someone else.
Hiding debt turned out to be common. Almost half of people with debt (48%) had kept it secret from someone close to them, and nearly a quarter (23%) had hidden a debt, or its true size, from their own partner or spouse.
Some groups carried that secrecy more than others. More than half of Gen Z respondents (52%) had hidden a debt from someone close to them, and nearly a third of parents with a child under 18 (31%) had hidden one from their partner.
Debt did not always stay private, and its effects reached beyond the person carrying it. About 1 in 6 people with debt (16%) said it had affected their relationships with others.
Debt showed up in dating decisions, too. A quarter of respondents (25%) named credit card balances the debt that makes them the most concerned about building a future with someone. Among Baby Boomers, that figure rose to 31%. Still, most people believed debt should be shared at some point. Fewer than one-tenth of people (7%) said a partner should never have to disclose what they owe.
How people felt after talking about debt
For all the weight debt can carry, the survey pointed to something hopeful.
Talking about a debt can change how it feels to carry. Across all respondents, 24% reported relief after disclosing a previously private debt, 10% reported greater stress and 30% reported no change.
If you've ever carried a debt that you've kept to yourself, you're in good company, since nearly half of people with debt have done the same. Talking with someone you trust can be an opportunity to ask for support and discuss next steps.
Moving Forward
Debt is rarely just about the numbers. The findings illustrate the emotional and interpersonal challenges that can accompany debt. The hopeful part is that no one has to carry it alone. Talking with someone you trust can be an opportunity to ask for support and discuss next steps.
Methodology
Freedom Debt Relief surveyed 1,003 U.S. adults who carry debt to understand how survey respondents think and feel about different kinds of debt, and how the stress of debt shapes their financial and personal lives. The average age of respondents was 42. The gender breakdown was 59% women, 40% men, and 2% who preferred not to say or self-described. Millennials made up the largest share of respondents (49%), followed by Gen X (25%), Gen Z (17%), and baby boomers (8%). Freedom Debt Relief conducted the survey online in July 2026.
About Freedom Debt Relief
Freedom Debt Relief is one of the largest and longest-running providers of debt settlement services in the United States. We help consumers take control of their finances by giving them a proven plan to relieve their debt burden — and in the process, help them make better financial decisions in the future. Working on behalf of its consumer clients, Freedom Debt Relief negotiates with creditors to reduce the amount of debt they owe. Freedom Debt Relief is an accredited debt settlement company based in San Mateo, Calif., and has served more than 2 million consumers, helping to resolve over $22 billion in debt since 2002.
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Author Information
Written by
Rebecca Lake
Rebecca Lake has over a decade of experience as a money expert, researching and writing hundreds of articles on retirement, investing, budgeting, banking, loans, saving money, and more. She has been published in over 20 online finance publications, including SoFi, Forbes, Chime, CreditCards.com, Investopedia, SmartAsset, Nerdwallet, Credit Sesame, LendingTree, and more.
Reviewed by
Kimberly Rotter
Kimberly Rotter is a financial counselor and consumer credit expert who helps people with average or low incomes discover how to create wealth and opportunities. She’s a veteran writer and editor who has spent more than 30 years creating thousands of hours of educational content in every possible format.