> Fully 18 percent of respondents said they would put the expense on a credit card and pay it off over time, incurring interest charges. Another 18 percent said they could handle a surprise expense without borrowing, but would have to make room in their budgets by scrimping on other items.
> An additional 12 percent said they would borrow from family or friends, while 8 percent said they would take personal loans.
This is a good example of a misleading and sensationalized headline. 39% wasn't too surprising to begin with, but really another 18% could also handle it without borrowing, 12% had support to borrow the money and 18% + 8% more had available credit to handle it. That covers 95%. This is "adults" so I assume everyone 18+, which although maybe not ideal is pretty good considering how precarious so many people's positions are portrayed.