More U.S. families drowning in debt
Some troubling if unsurprising news from a new study done by researchers at the University of Michigan.
More American families are drowning in debt.
One in five U.S. households owes more on credit cards, medical bills, student loans and other non-collateralized debts than they possess in savings and other liquid assets, say economists at the U-M Institute for Social Research.
The study also finds that the home mortgage issue doesn’t appear to be going away.
Some 1.7 percent of families surveyed last year say that it is either very likely or somewhat likely that they will fall behind on their mortgages in the near future. That’s actually down from 2009 when 1.9 percent of families said they were very or somewhat likely to fall behind. But it’s hardly out of the woods.
“Our data suggest that the mortgage crisis will continue for the next few years, although a somewhat smaller share of families will experience mortgage distress,” said Frank Stafford, one of the report’s co-authors.
He added that, “Even though average savings levels have gone up since 2008 … there has been no improvement in financial liquidity between 2009 and 2011, except among families with more than $50,000 in savings and other liquid assets.”
Some of the report’s noteworthy findings:
– The proportion of families with no savings or other liquid assets rose to 23.4 percent in 2011, up from 18.5 percent in 2009.
– About 3.54 percent of families owned a home and were behind on their mortgage in either 2009 or 2011, or both years. About 4.1 million families were affected.
– About 10 percent of families had $30,000 or more in credit card or other non-collateralized debt last year, up from 8.5 percent in 2009.
“Some families have not been able to make substantial headway,” Stafford said. “Even if they’re not underwater with their mortgages, they are struggling to save money and reduce their debts.”
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79 comments Add your comment
Idiot is Busted
May 14th, 2012
1:39 pm
The Magic Negro? Seriously? What century are you from? Do you congregate with the other little pointy white hat sheets in the woods on the weekend and burn bonfires and efigies of Obama and all blacks? The scariest part of all is that THIS moron has the right to vote!
Idiot is Busted
May 14th, 2012
1:40 pm
By the way…THAT magic negro AND his family have More class AND education that you and your entire klan put together. Imbreed.
Idiot is Busted
May 14th, 2012
1:43 pm
Rawdawg is a backwoods imbreed hillbilly who has fried his brain with too much moonshine. Go back to that tin-can bunker you built in the woods and wait for your aryian apocolypse.
ted
May 14th, 2012
1:45 pm
Sure. Blame Obama. I admire what he has achieved in so little time and with THAT opposition! If people were more informed, they would know that he achieved a lot for the ‘common man’. How quick do you think problems can be solved, mainly with that opposition? It takes time. Be patient. If the GPO had a magic solution, they would have done it already, they had plenty of time. But they have nothing! For a country that claims to be modern and tolerant and the ‘leader of the free world’, there are too many racists, homophobes, mysogenists and whiners to qualify for that. If you think YOUR faith, YOUR way of life, YOUR political opinion, Your intolerance is above everything and everybody, nothing will ever be achieved. I, for my part, find any difference in any part of life very interesting and worth exploring.
Idiots
May 14th, 2012
1:47 pm
1/20/13 – End of an ERROR.
Idiot is Busted
May 14th, 2012
1:51 pm
Ted…one of the most intelligent posts of the day! Thank you. And I ditto that comment about the GOP having “done it already” if they could. Romney has already said his first order will be to eliminate the Department of Education and HUD. How many jobs will THAT be? And he’s ascribing HE will BRING jobs? The math just does not add up here. Romney the liar. The cheat. And now we’re hearing he’s a bully. Honestly? He doesn’t remember holding down a kid and cutting off his hair in a “hate” crime?
Myself
May 14th, 2012
1:51 pm
The main problem is that people do not want to take the resposibility to pay their own debts. If owing money and not paying was made into a crime, then we would see less of this trouble. However, we need to face the reality and accept the fact that we are a country of thiefs.
Kat
May 14th, 2012
1:54 pm
I think idiots has the right ideas – all of them. Dave Ramsey rocks! I don’t think idiots needs to take anyone’s advice to “live a little” either. Sounds like she’s doing just fine on her own, and doesn’t need to “prove” anything to anyone. Her life sounds pretty darn goo to me.
Kat
May 14th, 2012
1:54 pm
goo = good!
Reading is fundamental
May 14th, 2012
2:07 pm
The article focuses on liquid savings, which are assets that can be readily converted to available money (i.e. cash in hand). 401K, 403B, IRA, stocks, etc are not liquid. If you needed those converted into cash in hand in an emergency it would not happen quickly.
Meg
May 14th, 2012
2:09 pm
@idiots
That’s my point, you do pay taxes, and you will never own your home, because if you fail to pay taxes, the government will take it back. As long as there are property taxes, you will never own property, you’re just leasing it from the government.
Since our home is paid for, it’s more obvious to us every year, they disguise it by adding it to the mortgage, just like they disguise the scope of income taxes by taking them out of your paycheck and then giving you a tiny portion back as your “refund.”
Studies show most people pay more in taxes now than they do for rent, food and utilities TOTAL.
Well, 51% of us do, the rest are living off our taxes.
Roekest
May 14th, 2012
2:16 pm
@ Idiots,
Oh, you’re so smart. You should open up a school, that way you won’t need the AJC Blogs to belittle us. Not all of us who have debt are doing so to impress people. S–t happens. I hope it happens to you…soon. Like a bus. Or cancer.
Homer
May 14th, 2012
2:20 pm
Meg, stop whining about the taxes you pay on your property. You are getting something for it. Just tune out Boortz for a few hours and stop and think what it would cost you to hire your own police force, fire fighters, judges, schoolteachers, and road crews. Imagine how costly it would be for you to directly pay the people that study ways to keep your air and water quality at an acceptable level. If you are on a municipal sewage system, then don’t complain about taxes because no one wants your $hit. In fact, we are getting a bargain for our taxes in that department.
Idiots
May 14th, 2012
2:24 pm
Thank you Roekest. That’s nice to wish cancer on someone……and to hope that someone has trouble…WOW. Bitter much? What do you have to offer to the conversation? More destruction? More hate?
It’s so easy to be jealous of someone else. Too bad you don’t make good financial decisions.
I wasn’t belittleing anyone…..I was stating some facts.
Have a nice afternoon….
myself
May 14th, 2012
2:32 pm
Meg is right, we do not own houses, we simply lease them from the U.S. government, just do the math and you will see … this country is not very different from China if you think about it.
JamVet
May 14th, 2012
2:38 pm
The policies of this administration have destroyed the middle class.
Thankfully not everyone in this country is an ostrich with Obama Derangement Syndrome.
Since 1973, worker productive has doubled in this country. While wages for the vast percentage of Americans have essentially FLAT LINED.
In adjusted inflation dollars about 75% of American workers are earning the same income that they did back then.
The minimum wage in adjusted inflation dollars is lower now than it was in 1968.
From 1995 -2005 CEO pay went up 240%. The average American worker? 4%
The first decade of this century is knows as the Lost Decade.
The ONLY two groups in American history that have stood up for American workers – the labor unions and the government – have seen those protections and basic rights devastated by every president since Ronald Reagan.
While at the same time BIG business has essentially taken over our government. Washington DC is corporate owned territory.
And you fake conservatives just sit and whistle Dixie while we the people’s blood soaked and sacred sovereignty is sold off to the highest bidder – whether on Wall Street or in Beijing.
You’re doing a heckuva job, connies…
bet down
May 14th, 2012
2:49 pm
cut back? i need me a new escalade—my old ride has 40,000 miles and i need something new to get the ladies
NoFKsGiven
May 14th, 2012
3:10 pm
I seriously wished to God I cared any more. I don’t. You’re drowning in debt? Fine, lose what you have and hit the streets. Not my problem, and maybe it will be good for you. Everyone should, at least one in their lives, live homeless and starve. Maybe then they learn. But, again, I could not care less.
Meg
May 14th, 2012
5:15 pm
@Homer
Says one of the 49% that doesn’t pay taxes. I pay water and sewage in my water bill every month. When my basement caught fire we grabbed our fire extinguishers (after hearing our smoke detectors) and put it out ourselves. A house burns in a matter of minutes, I wasn’t going to wait for a fire truck, and we didn’t need them after all.
I home school our kids, and as for police, anyone who waits for them to get there when they’re in trouble is calling to have their crime solved, not stopped. I have guns and pepper spray because when seconds count, the police are there in minutes.
If people did things for themselves instead of expecting the government to solve everything for them, we wouldn’t need to take all my money for taxes to take care of people like you. Call a Whaaaambulance, my taxes will pay for it, right?
Homer
May 14th, 2012
8:16 pm
Meg, I pay plenty in taxes on both of my properties. The problem I have with the Taxed Enough Already people is that they think that they are so superior to everyone else. Let’s get something straight, you live in a civilized society along with the rest of us. You pay taxes for that privilege and you get something in return for it. So stop the nonsense about renting your home to the government. It’s as silly as assuming that everyone that disagrees with you is mooching off of your measly dime.
Meg
May 14th, 2012
9:47 pm
You are welcome to donate as much extra tax money as you want, but don’t drag me into it. I’d rather be able to spend it on my kids, than support useless intrusive government jobs and moochers, both international (foreign aid) and domestic (welfare, SSI for ADHD and other imaginary ailments, etc).
I play plenty on all three of my properties, and I don’t receive value for my money.
Nobama
May 15th, 2012
8:18 am
Ah, another day in the 1%. Should I shower now or later? Should I take the Benz or the Bimmer to lunch? Should I grill filets or ribeyes tonight? Should I go with an Oregon Pinot or a French Cabernet? Should I play 9 or 18? Too many damn decisions!
mo cash
May 15th, 2012
11:22 am
the government cut off my unemployment benefits–where am I supposed to get all the money I need for expenses? there are no good jobs anywhere.
More US families drowning in debt – Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) | Collection Agency Harassment
May 15th, 2012
1:31 pm
[...] More US families drowning in debtAtlanta Journal Constitution (blog)One in five US households owes more on credit cards, medical bills, student loans and other non-collateralized debts than they possess in savings and other liquid assets, say economists at the UM Institute for Social Research. The study also finds that …Many households have a negative net worth, study findsUSA TODAYUS families saddled with debt, have few savingsWorld Socialist Web SiteStudy: 1 in 5 families drowning in debtKVUE (blog)The Consumeristall 17 news articles » This entry was posted in Credit Card Issues and tagged atlanta journal constitution, blog, Constitution, credit cards, debt, findsUSA, journal constitution, student loans, study, UM Institute for Social Research. Bookmark the permalink. Trackbacks are closed, but you can post a comment. « Squeeze some savings out of your credit card – Irish Times Consumer Credit Card Debt Drops for First Time in Five Months – San Francisco Chronicle (press release) » [...]
Meg
May 15th, 2012
3:48 pm
I’m not rich. We drive a paid-for 15 year old mini van. We haven’t made any upgrades to our home so we can keep our rental properties up. We don’t eat out, we don’t go on vacations, we don’t buy expensive clothes or gadgets, and I cook from scratch so we can live debt free. Our government punishes us for this frugality by giving our money to people who have never worked. who buy junk food and soft drinks and things we can’t afford, with the food stamps we provide them.
I would rather keep that money. let them provide for their own families and let me take my kids to the movies for once, or to a ball game, or maybe save for a new van. I’m tired of being taxed to death and knowing I can never really own anything anyway, because the gov’t can take it if I can’t pay the taxes.
Homer
May 15th, 2012
7:02 pm
Meg, why don’t you treat yourself and your family to some junk food and soft drinks? It might make you a little happier. You sound like you are miserable.
S
May 16th, 2012
1:36 am
Millions upon Millions of people go to work sometimes at more than one job and they still are only managing to get by. Life, living, happens sometimes for the good and sometimes not. People come in all different sizes, shapes and personalities. We are going to have the haves, the middle and haves a little and those that have nothing. Some that plan their lives out, and some that don’t. That is just the way it is. We are not one size fits all but we have to work and live like we are or we won’t survive in this dog eat dog world.
All of us have to pay our fair share of taxes for the common good for all. If we don’t pay our fair share of taxes then our country will fail. We have a great country and to keep it running correctly we all(corporations are people too) have to pay our fair share in taxes, that is a small price to pay to keep our way of life and our country strong. We stand together or we won’t stand at all!
Our taxes pay for education, roads, clean water (food, electricity, rail, oil,etc.)(subsidies) bridges, charities, the disabled, Wars,(Bush didn’t pay, but now those are on the tax books) I could go on and on. For the last 30 years all of these have been starved except the subsidies, they keep getting more and more of our tax dollars(why is that?).
The Mob, our infrastructure will only starve/last for so long and then they will rebel/collapse . The Mob has the numbers and the guns I might add, the infrastructure is falling apart, do we let them starve/fall apart and lose everything or do we pay our fair share of taxes?
I might add, Georgia has some of the lowest tax rates in the Nation.
cash in!!
May 16th, 2012
7:49 am
ryan seacrest not drowning in anything except money! He just bought Ellen’s house for $49 million cash!!! party on ryan!
Yard Man
May 16th, 2012
3:18 pm
jobs are out there, nursing, electricians, plumbers, can’t do that.. casual dining.. bar tending.. baby sitting, hell I make $1000 a week mowing yards.. do alittle irrigation etc.. GET A JOB people !!!