Millions of Americans dream of the day that they exit the dark, desolate tunnel of debt and can live their lives without owing money to anyone. But sadly, a new report finds that most consumers actually have little hope of ever being debt-free.

A new poll from Creditcards.com found that one-in-five consumers (or 18%) believe they’ll take their debt to the grave, double the number of consumer who felt the same way in 2013.

The survey, which polled 1,001 consumers earlier this month, asked respondents about their expectations regarding the debt they already have and those they expect to acquire in the future.

Analyst with Creditcards.com say the overwhelmingly bleak outlook of being in debt until death is a manifestation of consumers’ struggle to pay down their debts in the current economy.

Consumers’ pessimistic views regarding eventual debt freedom were generally consistent across all income levels, the report found.

While nearly 20% of consumers who made less than $30,000 per year felt they would never be out of debt, their counterparts in a higher income are almost as pessimistic, with 15% of consumers earning $75,000 or more reporting they would never be debt free.

Although income levels didn’t appear to ease consumers’ harsh feelings about being indebted until death, age proved to be a decisive factor when it came to optimism regarding debt.

Despite a growing tab of student loan debt, only 6% of already indebted millennials said they would never get out of debt.

That’s a significant change from the 31% of debtors ages 65 and older and 22% of consumers between the ages of 50 and 64 believe they’ll die with debt.

Analysts with Creditcards.com say that while it’s admirable that younger consumers want to pay off their debt quickly, it might not be realistic.

The survey found that 59% of respondents between the ages of 18 and 29 who are currently in debt believe they will pay off their debts by the time they are 30. Another 14% of millennials see themselves as debt free by 40.

Overall, Creditcards.com found that the average age consumers felt they would have debt paid off was 53.

Poll: More Americans expect to be in debt forever [Creditcards.com]

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