Financial Collapse and Class Status: Who Goes Bankrupt? by Elizabeth Warren

Elizabeth Warren (Harvard Law School)

Abstract:    
Every policy prescription, economic analysis, or news report about consumer bankruptcy rests on one or another unspoken image of the estimated 1.6 million families that will file in a single year. Data from the 2001 Consumer Bankruptcy Project permit a systematic analysis of the composition of those who file for personal bankruptcy, focusing on their educations, occupations and home ownership status. These attributes serve as a proxy for class identification. Based on these indicia, more than 90 percent of the families in bankruptcy qualify as middle class. These data are a powerful reminder that whatever else might be said about those in bankruptcy, these people are not some sub-group of Americans safely distanced from the middle class, but instead are co-workers, neighbors and families woven throughout the fabric of American society. Read Paper

We’d love to be your preferred source for news.

Please add us to your preferred sources list so our news, data and interviews show up in your feed. Thanks!

Add as Preferred Source

Related Content

Elizabeth Warren Bound for Treasury Role, But What About the CFPB?

The Consumer Financial Protection Board: Insights from Elizabeth Warren’s “Making Credit Safer”

Briefing Room: Dealing with Durbin