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The Distribution of Household Debt in the United States, 1950-2019

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  • Bartscher, Alina
  • Kuhn, Moritz
  • Schularick, Moritz
  • Steins, Ulrike

Abstract

Using new household-level data, we study the secular increase in U.S. household debt and its distribution since 1950. Most of the debt were mortgages, which initially grew because more households borrowed. Yet after 1980, debt mostly grew because households borrowed more. We uncover home equity extraction, concentrated in the white middle class, as the largest cause, strongly affecting intergenerational inequality and life-cycle debt profiles. Remarkably, the additional debt did not lower households’ net worth because of rising house prices. We conclude that asset-price-based borrowing became an integral part of households’ consumption-saving decisions, yet at the cost of higher financial fragility.

Suggested Citation

  • Bartscher, Alina & Kuhn, Moritz & Schularick, Moritz & Steins, Ulrike, 2024. "The Distribution of Household Debt in the United States, 1950-2019," CEPR Discussion Papers 18929, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:18929
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    Cited by:

    1. Fierro, Luca Eduardo & Giri, Federico & Russo, Alberto, 2023. "Inequality-constrained monetary policy in a financialized economy," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 216(C), pages 366-385.
    2. Alina K. Bartscher & Moritz Kuhn & Moritz Schularick & Paul Wachtel, 2022. "Monetary Policy and Racial Inequality," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 53(1 (Spring), pages 1-63.
    3. Bazillier, Rémi & Héricourt, Jérôme & Ligonnière, Samuel, 2021. "Structure of income inequality and household leverage: Cross-country causal evidence," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    4. Andreas Fagereng & Magnus A. H. Gulbrandsen & Martin B. Holm & Gisle J. Natvik, 2021. "How does monetary policy affect household indebtedness?," Working Paper 2021/5, Norges Bank.
    5. Gianni La Cava & Lydia Wang, 2021. "The Rise in Household Liquidity," RBA Research Discussion Papers rdp2021-10, Reserve Bank of Australia.
    6. Luis Bauluz & Filip Novokmet & Moritz Schularick, 2022. "The Anatomy of the Global Saving Glut," Working Papers halshs-03693216, HAL.
    7. von Schweinitz, Gregor, 2023. "The importance of credit demand for business cycle dynamics," IWH Discussion Papers 21/2023, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
    8. Atif Mian & Ludwig Straub & Amir Sufi, 2021. "What explains the decline in r ∗ ? Rising income inequality versus demographic shifts," Working Papers 2021-12, Princeton University. Economics Department..
    9. Kösem, Sevim, 2021. "Income inequality, mortgage debt and house prices," Bank of England working papers 921, Bank of England.
    10. Wang, Shengquan, 2023. "Income inequality and systemic banking crises: A nonlinear nexus," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 47(4).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G51 - Financial Economics - - Household Finance - - - Household Savings, Borrowing, Debt, and Wealth
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • E44 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy
    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution

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