Research Catalog

Details

Additional authors

1. Warren, Elizabeth.
2. Westbrook, Jay Lawrence.

Description

1. xvii, 380 pages : illustrations; 24 cm

Summary

1. "The authors of this 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."--Jacket.
2. "The authors of this 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.
3. 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."--BOOK JACKET.

Subject

1. Bankruptcy > United States
2. Consumer credit > United States
3. Finance, Personal > United States
4. Faillite > États-Unis
5. Crédit à la consommation > États-Unis
6. Finances personnelles > États-Unis
7. Mittelstand
8. Schulden
9. Bankruptcy
10. Consumer credit
11. Finance, Personal
12. USA
13. United States

Contents

1. Americans in financial crisis -- Middle-class and broke: the demography of bankruptcy -- Unemployed or underemployed -- Credit cards -- Sickness and injury -- Divorce -- Housing -- The middle class in debt.

Owning institution

1. Columbia University Libraries

Bibliography (note)

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