Debt-Ridden 20-Somethings Experience Quarter-Life Crisis

When you think of a midlife crisis, you probably don't think of someone in their 20s.

But, according to a new documentary, a "quarter-life crisis" comes with the territory for modern-day 20-something women, especially when it comes to finances.

In "Spotlight 25," a new documentary that appears on Lifetime tonight, journalist Willow Bay, who is also the wife of Disney President Bob Iger, examines the trials that 20-somethings face.

A primary concern for women in their 20s tends to be money. According to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, people age 25 to 35 spend 24 percent of their income on debt payments.

"To live in Manhattan, where I live, just to get by day to day, I built up a credit card debt," one woman said in the documentary.

Bay was surprised by the young women's lack of financial knowledge.

"That's part of the equation. They don't calculate. They have taken A.P. [advanced placement] calculus, but last time I checked, there were no college courses managing credit card interest rates," Bay said. "It just doesn't compute, and nobody has taught them this."

Despite her incredulity, Bay acknowledged that 20-something women faced a different financial world than their older counterparts.

"Starting salaries are lower. Housing costs are significantly higher and more than half of graduating seniors leave college with student loans. So all that adds up to a challenging economic picture," she said.

The current financial climate and these women's sense of entitlement make a disastrous combination. Bay attributes that entitlement to a culture that lionizes celebrity.

"We grow up in a media-obsessed, celebrity-saturated universe. That is what these young people grew up with," Bay said. "It's not about keeping up with the Joneses anymore. It's about keeping up with the Jessica Albas, Jennifer Anistons."

"I'm so stunned they're not panicked. They said to me, 'Well, debt's normal. You're supposed to have debt,'" she said. "They confuse establishing a credit history, which you do if you got a car loan and you paid it off every month, with racking up what is unmanageable debt."