. Americans are falling deeper in debt due to rising housing, food, and gas prices.
According to the 2021 American Household Credit Card Debt Study, NerdWallet found that U.S. households are $15. 24 trillion in debt. This is an increase of 6.2 percent between 2020 and 2021..
Some 70% represents mortgage debt. This has also increased by 8. 22 percent.
According to the study, the average mortgage debt owed by U.S. households is $207,861, while the average U.S. household owes about $155,622 overall.
The balances on credit cards have increased steadily, along with auto loans (up 6.1%) and student loans (2.2%). 46 percent). According to the new study, the average U.S. household has $28,882 in auto loans and about $59,042 in student loans.
More than a third of respondents, 35 percent, said that their finances had become worse in the last year. Some 38 percent of this group blamed their situation on falling household income, while 36 percent said their expenses had increased. Another 21 percent said their income was impacted by job loss.
” The past year and a half was already difficult for millions of Americans who lost their jobs. “Now, we are faced with rising prices for essential items — food and housing as well as transportation and medical care,” Sara Rathner (credit cards expert at NerdWallet) explained in the report. “It remains difficult for many to catch up.”
About 78 percent of respondents in the survey said they received pandemic assistance