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Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Bankrupt! Nearly 1 in 4 People Are Uncomfortable With Their Debt

A new Gallup poll reveals that, despite the fact Americans are taking on more and more debt as a way to fuel consumption (and in theory are comfortable with the idea of debt), about 23% are "somewhat or very uncomfortable" in terms of their level of debt.




While 23% may not be as "significant" as Gallup claims (keep in mind, 77% of respondents said they are "very" or "somewhat" comfortable with their debt level), to me the more important piece comes after, in that 49% of respondents are uncomfortable with making a major purchase (in turn adding to their debt) in the next 3 months.

Perhaps we're seeing a turning point- people finally getting fed up with the ever growing mountain of debt weighing them down. Take this with things like the growing proliferation of debit cards- particularly young people, "with 60% of people 18-25 reporting they use the cards for purchases for anything from digital content and vending machines to parking and newspapers" according to MSN- and it does seem that the willingness to incur debt may be retreating.

Though, its a long battle back from the situation we young'ns are in. Yikes.

Also interesting to note that 4 of the 10 most recent Gallup poles are focused on debt, highlighting again how top of mind this issue is for people.

1 comment:

salina said...

I would be curious to see how this poll would be different today from six or eight months ago--and how the housing market's drop has impacted people's comfort levels.