Family Debt in the United States
Trends in Borrowing by Americans
Family debt and family assets both rose strongly from 1989 to 1995. As a result, family debt as a proportion of assets held fairly steady at about 16 percent over the period. Home mortgages and home equity borrowing as a share of total family debt grew strongly, however, probably because of wider home ownership and a continuing shift of debt into these tax-deductible forms. The share of credit card debt also grew strongly between 1992 and 1995, but it remained a small part of total family debt. Offsetting these increases was a strong decline in the share of borrowing for…
