A growing number of young Americans are openly saying they have no plans to pay back their debt. On TikTok, skipping out on student loans, credit cards, and Buy Now, Pay Later services like Klarna is no longer taboo, it’s trending.
Debt As A Status Symbol
“I’m 23 and I’m in $300,000 of debt,” one woman said in a recent TikTok clip. “And I’m not stressed about it. If I passed away tomorrow, that debt disappears. And honestly, as long as I can afford my daily Starbucks, I’m good. I am not stressing.”
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That kind of attitude is spreading. In a recent video, YouTuber Zac Rios showcased dozens of TikToks where people brag about never paying off their Klarna, skipping student loan payments for a decade, and running up credit card debt without a second thought. In some cases, people even suggest that refusing to pay has become a badge of honor. “Not paying your Klarna debt almost feels like the new status symbol,” one person said.
Others go further. “Just don’t pay your loans back. You don’t owe anybody anything anyway,” one TikToker declared, claiming debt doesn’t matter because the money was “created” by the borrower in the first place.
The Reality Check
But the numbers tell a more complicated story. While national household debt reached $18.4 trillion in Q2 2025, most consumers are still managing it responsibly. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, only 3% of total debt is seriously delinquent, meaning 90 or more days past due.
That figure is rising, though. Student loans are the main issue, with 10.2% of balances now seriously delinquent after a five-year repayment pause ended. Among people under 30, serious delinquency is up 37% from the previous quarter, reaching 4.6% — the highest since 2017.
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Short-Term Thinking, Long-Term Consequences
Many of the viral debt-denial posts come from young adults who seem to underestimate the long-term consequences.
One person said to wait seven years, referring to the timeframe in which unpaid debts typically fall off a credit report. But seven years is 2,555 days, a long time to be locked out of loans, apartments, or even job opportunities.
Some people watching these videos are clearly annoyed by how normal it’s becoming to treat ignoring debt like it’s no big deal. One wrote, “There's no sense of relief like having next month's rent/mortgage set aside, the electric and phone bill paid, and then getting a paycheck and owing nobody.”
Gen Z, despite its representation in many of these clips, may be more financially savvy than it appears. According to PYMNTS data, Gen Z saves 36% of their income. That’s 10 points more than older generations. They’re also nearly three times more likely to use credit-builder tools.
Gen Z recognizes how important credit is, having seen how credit scores impact everything from getting a car loan to landing a job. As a result, they tend to approach credit use more intentionally.
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A Debt Strike Mentality
Still, a vocal minority is embracing financial chaos. “What we’re doing from this point forward is a debt strike 2025,” one TikToker declared in a video with more than 450,000 views. “I’m not paying my debt. You can join me on this or you cannot.”
But some viewers are starting to push back. “Unfortunately, sometimes it takes a wage garnishment, car repo, collections, and frozen credit cards to make people realize what kind of trouble they’re in,” one commenter wrote.
As Rios put it: “It sounds very easy to not care when you’re 20 or 22 years old, but when you’re in your 30s or 40s and you’re still in the same position, I feel like a lot of these people will start to think differently, but they will be very deep in the hole that they dug.”
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