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A new report provides some insight into the role credit cards are playing in many Americans' personal financial struggles.
According to the research and policy organization Demos, the average low and middle-income household in America now carries $9,827 in credit debt, which takes approximately 5.1 years to pay off.
The report found a substantial number of families are now using credit cards for daily living expenses, while one in two households were also said to be struggling with medical costs that they had charged on credit.
"With so many American households putting their basic necessities on credit cards and using their limited home equity to pay it off, if they have any equity at all, we have a nation with millions on the financial edge," said report co-author Jose Garcia.
Federal statistics have shown Americans working harder than ever to pay down debts in recent months, and the report found that nearly half of those surveyed reporting extra hours or taking extra jobs to pay down debt. Credit card debt grew particularly fast early this decade but has been leveling off somewhat over the past couple of years.
By Steve Monfort
Americans struggling more with personal finances
A new report provides some insight into the role credit cards are playing in many Americans' personal financial struggles. According to the research and policy organization Demos, the average low and middle-income household in America now carries $9,827 in credit debt, which takes approximately 5.1 years to pay off.
The report found a substantial number of families are now using credit cards for daily living expenses, while one in two households were also said to be struggling with medical costs that they had charged on credit.
"With so many American households putting their basic necessities on credit cards and using their limited home equity to pay it off, if they have any equity at all, we have a nation with millions on the financial edge," said report co-author Jose Garcia.
Federal statistics have shown Americans working harder than ever to pay down debts in recent months, and the report found that nearly half of those surveyed reporting extra hours or taking extra jobs to pay down debt. Credit card debt grew particularly fast early this decade but has been leveling off somewhat over the past couple of years.
By Steve Monfort
