The fragile middle class : Americans in debt / Teresa A. Sullivan, Elizabeth Warren, Jay Lawrence Westbrook.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sullivan, Teresa A., 1949-

Contributor:

Warren, Elizabeth, 1949-

Westbrook, Jay Lawrence.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Bankruptcy--United States.

Bankruptcy.

Consumer credit--United States.

Consumer credit.

Finance, Personal--United States.

Finance, Personal.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (400 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New Haven, CT : Yale University Press, c2000.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Since 1997, the number of American families filing for federal bankruptcy annually has exceeded one million. By most measures, those who file are members of the middle class-a group that has long provided stability and vitality for the American economic system. This raises the troubling question: why, during the most remarkable period of prosperity in our history, are unprecedented numbers of Americans encountering such serious financial trouble? The authors of this important book analyze court records and demographic data on thousands of bankruptcy cases, as well as debtors' own poignant accounts of the reasons for their bankruptcies. For many middle-class Americans, the findings show, financial stability is fragile-almost any setback can be disastrous. The erosion of job stability, divorce and family instability, the visible and invisible costs of medical care, the burden of home ownership, and the staggering weight of consumer debt financed with plastic combine to threaten the financial security of growing numbers of middle-class families. The authors view the bankruptcy process in the light of changing cultural and economic factors and consider what this may signify for the future of a large, secure, and dynamic middle class.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Illustrations

Tables

Preface

Chapter 1. Americans in Financial Crisis

Chapter 2. Middle-Class and Broke The Demography of Bankruptcy

Chapter 3. Unemployed or Underemployed

Chapter 4. Credit Cards

Chapter 5. Sickness and Injury

Chapter 6. Divorce

Chapter 7. Housing

Chapter 8. The Middle Class in Debt

Appendix 1. Data Used in This Study

Appendix 2. Other Published Studies

Notes

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. [297]-365) and index.

ISBN:

9786611730048

9781281730046

1281730041

9780300128147

0300128142

OCLC:

1024042206