High grocery prices are creating downstream financial troubles for more Americans.
More than a quarter of US working-age adults who used credit cards to cover grocery costs last year struggled to repay their bills in full later on, either making only the minimum payment or missing that threshold entirely, new research from the Urban Institute has found.
And nearly 1 in 10 relied on “buy now, pay later” loans last year, with a third failing to make their payment, according to a survey of over 7,500 adults ages 18 to 64 conducted in December. Additionally, almost 1 in 20 turned to cash from a payday loan for food.
“Families might be having trouble affording groceries with the resources that they originally intended to purchase groceries with,” Kassandra Martinchek, lead author of the report and senior research associate at the Urban Institute, told Yahoo Finance. “They’re relying on credit or cash from payday loans or drawing down savings that they weren’t intending to use for groceries.”
Grocery prices have risen 2.7% in the past year, according to government data, and are up nearly 32% from pre-pandemic levels.
The share of adults who paid for groceries with a credit card last year and then were unable to make a minimum payment, at 8.7%, was up from the 7.1% level seen just in 2023. Those missed payments can then carry late fees and penalties, deepening consumers’ financial woes.
“When they’re taking on debt by not repaying their credit card or buy now, pay later bills in full, what this means is that now in the future they have to repay that debt and continue to meet their day-to-day financial needs,” Martinchek said.
The increase was even more notable among families earning between 200% and 400% of the federal poverty level — roughly $64,300 to $128,600 for a family of four in 2025 — with the share unable to make a minimum payment rising from 9.3% in 2023 to 12.3% in 2025.
Low- and moderate-income households, who were more likely to turn to buy now, pay later to cover food, were also more likely to buckle under the resulting bill. About half of low-income adults who used the loans for food reported missing a payment, compared to about a third of moderate-income adults and a quarter of high-income adults, the Urban Institute said.
Meanwhile, about 20% of working-age adults overall reached for long-term savings to pay for food.
“Savings can be a helpful short-term strategy to cover budget shortfalls, but depleting savings for daily expenses can also signal risk,” the Urban Institute said in its report.