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Recent changes to a measure of U.S. household debt service

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Abstract

Changes in levels of aggregate household debt in the United States may contain information about the current state of the nation's economy and may affect its future direction. A commonly used measure of household indebtedness is the household debt service ratio (formerly known as the household debt service burden), published since 1980 by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Recent changes in financial markets have prompted a comprehensive revision of this statistic. This article describes the revision and introduces a new measure, the financial obligations ratio, which adds recurring obligations -- rent, auto leases, homeowners' insurance, and property taxes -- to the traditional calculation of the debt service ratio. In total, these revisions change the level of the debt service ratio but do not substantively alter its trajectory over time. The article also presents separate estimates of the financial obligations ratio for homeowners and renters. The ratio for homeowners, which may summarize the effects of the recent refinancing boom on the financial obligations of homeowners, has risen gradually over the past decade; the ratio for renters has risen more steeply. The flat contour of the homeowner ratio in recent quarters suggests that homeowners may have rebalanced their portfolios toward lower-cost mortgage debt during the recent period of economic weakness.

Suggested Citation

  • Karen E. Dynan & Kathleen W. Johnson & Karen M. Pence, 2003. "Recent changes to a measure of U.S. household debt service," Federal Reserve Bulletin, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.), vol. 89(Oct), pages 417-426, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedgrb:y:2003:i:oct:p:417-426:n:v.89no.10
    DOI: 10.17016/bulletin.2003.89-10
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    Cited by:

    1. Mikael Juselius & Claudio Borio & Piti Disyatat & Mathias Drehmann, 2017. "Monetary Policy, the Financial Cycle, and Ultra-Low Interest Rates," International Journal of Central Banking, International Journal of Central Banking, vol. 13(3), pages 55-89, September.
    2. Jooyung Lee, 2015. "Development of statistics for aggregate household debt service ratio in Korea," IFC Bulletins chapters, in: Bank for International Settlements (ed.), Assessing household financial positions in Asia, volume 40, Bank for International Settlements.
    3. Mathias Drehmann & Mikael Juselius & Anton Korinek, 2018. "Going With the Flows: New Borrowing, Debt Service and the Transmission of Credit Booms," NBER Working Papers 24549, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Joel A. Elvery & Mark E. Schweitzer, 2020. "Partially Disaggregated Household‐Level Debt Service Ratios: Construction, Validation, And Relationship To Bankruptcy Rates," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 38(1), pages 166-187, January.
    5. Okechukwu D. Anyamele, 2018. "Racial Ethnic differences in Household Loan Delinquency Rate in recent financial crisis: Evidence from 2007 and 2010 Survey of Consumer Finances," Journal of Applied Finance & Banking, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 8(3), pages 1-4.
    6. Tamás Borkó & Evelyn Herbert & Barnabás Székely & Péter Szomorjai, 2020. "How Would the Magyar Nemzeti Bank's Liquidity and Funding Requirements Have Influenced the Impact of the 2008 Crisis in Hungary?," Financial and Economic Review, Magyar Nemzeti Bank (Central Bank of Hungary), vol. 19(4), pages 27-59.
    7. Mikael Juselius & Moshe Kim, 2017. "Sustainable Financial Obligations and Crisis Cycles," Econometrics, MDPI, vol. 5(2), pages 1-23, June.
    8. Mikael Juselius & Mathias Drehmann, 2015. "Leverage dynamics and the real burden of debt," BIS Working Papers 501, Bank for International Settlements.
    9. Mathias Drehmann & Mikael Juselius & Anton Korinek, 2017. "Accounting for debt service: the painful legacy of credit booms," BIS Working Papers 645, Bank for International Settlements.
    10. Mikael Juselius & Claudio Borio & Piti Disyatat & Mathias Drehmann, 2017. "Monetary Policy, the Financial Cycle, and Ultra-Low Interest Rates," International Journal of Central Banking, International Journal of Central Banking, vol. 13(3), pages 55-89, September.
    11. Igor Livshits & James MacGee & Michèle Tertilt, 2010. "Accounting for the Rise in Consumer Bankruptcies," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(2), pages 165-193, April.
    12. Karen E Dynan & Donald L Kohn, 2007. "The Rise in US Household Indebtedness: Causes and Consequences," RBA Annual Conference Volume (Discontinued), in: Christopher Kent & Jeremy Lawson (ed.),The Structure and Resilience of the Financial System, Reserve Bank of Australia.
    13. Mikael Juselius & Mathias Drehmann, 2020. "Leverage Dynamics and the Burden of Debt," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 82(2), pages 347-364, April.
    14. Mikael Juselius & Anton Korinek & Mathias Drehmann, 2017. "Debt Service: The Painful Legacy of Credit Booms," 2017 Meeting Papers 1258, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    15. Mathias Drehmann & Mikael Juselius & Anton Korinek, 2023. "Long-term debt propagation and real reversals," BIS Working Papers 1098, Bank for International Settlements.
    16. Karen E. Dynan & Donald L. Kohn, 2007. "The rise in U.S. household indebtedness: causes and consequences," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2007-37, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    17. Mikael Juselius & Mathias Drehmann, 2020. "Leverage Dynamics and the Burden of Debt," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 82(2), pages 347-364, April.
    18. Gajendran Raveendranathan, 2018. "Improved Matching, Directed Search, and Bargaining in the Credit Card Market," 2018 Meeting Papers 112, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    19. Andrew Kish, 2006. "Perspectives on recent trends in consumer debt," Consumer Finance Institute discussion papers 06-05, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
    20. Mathias Drehmann & Anamaria Illes & Mikael Juselius & Marjorie Santos, 2015. "How much income is used for debt payments? A new database for debt service ratios," BIS Quarterly Review, Bank for International Settlements, September.
    21. Okechukwu Anyamele, 2015. "Racial/Ethnic Differences in Household Loan Delinquency Rate," The Review of Black Political Economy, Springer;National Economic Association, vol. 42(4), pages 415-442, December.
    22. Lucia Dunn & Tufan Ekici & Paul J. Lavrakas & Jeffery A. Stec, 2004. "An Index to Track Credit Card Debt and Predict Consumption," Working Papers 04-04, Ohio State University, Department of Economics.
    23. Tufan Ekici & Lucia Dunn, 2010. "Credit card debt and consumption: evidence from household-level data," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(4), pages 455-462.
    24. Mathias Drehmann & Mikael Juselius & Anton Korinek, 2017. "Accounting for debt service: the painful legacy of credit booms," BIS Working Papers 645, Bank for International Settlements.

    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • C81 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs - - - Methodology for Collecting, Estimating, and Organizing Microeconomic Data; Data Access

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