-6to pay an unexpected $ expense (figure 5). 10 Drilling down further indicates that while 6 percent of middle-income adults said they would not be able to pay the expense using any means, 27 percent would borrow or sell something to pay the expense. The reliance on credit to meet unexpected expenses is pronounced among those already carrying a balance on their credit cards.
Nearly 3 in 10 middle-income adults carry a balance on their credit card most or all of the time, and the same households are five times as likely to borrow if faced with a $ expense as those who never carry a balance. Borrowing money is not the only way that middle-income households cope with unexpected expenses.