Question

warm up
current and recent college students typical credit card usage

1. what percent of current college students use their credit cards in emergency situations, only?
2. what is the number one category of spending across all three populations?
3. what category of credit card spending has the greatest difference between completers and non - completers? what is that difference?
4. hypothesize why the category for big - ticket items is substantially smaller for the students than for the other two groups.

Explanation:

Step1: Locate the bar for "Emergency only" and the light - colored bar (Students)

By observing the graph, for the "Emergency only" category, the percentage for current college students (light - colored bar) is \(4\%\).

Step2: Analyze all three populations' bars for each category

Look at each category's bars for Students (light - colored), Completers (medium - colored), and Non - completers (dark - colored). For the "For online purchases" category, the percentages are relatively high compared to other categories across the three groups.

Step3: Calculate differences for each category

For each category, subtract the Non - completer percentage from the Completer percentage.

• For "For online purchases": \(56 - 44=12\)
• For "On a regular basis for everyday purchases": \(52 - 32 = 20\)
• For "For big - ticket items that I need to pay over time": \(42-23 = 19\)
• For "Recurring purchase (i.e., bills, subscriptions, etc.)": \(44 - 32=12\)
• For "At the store(s) where I have a store or merchant card": \(30 - 26 = 4\)
• For "Emergency only": \(11-4 = 7\)
• For "All of the above": \(14 - 9=5\)

The category "On a regular basis for everyday purchases" has the greatest difference (\(20\%\))

Step4: Hypothesize about big - ticket items

Students (enrolled, ages 18 - 24) may have less disposable income and less credit available (lower credit limits) compared to Completers (ages 21 - 29, with a degree, likely more stable income) and Non - completers (ages 21 - 29, may have been in the workforce for some time, even without a degree). Also, students may have more financial support from parents for big - ticket items instead of using credit cards.

Answer:

1. \(4\%\)
2. For online purchases
3. On a regular basis for everyday purchases, \(20\%\)
4. Students may have less income, lower credit limits, and more parental support for big - ticket items.