6 ms·

My armchair guess would be that debt is keeping people chained to particular locations. If you live in a town that no one wants to live in, who will buy your ho

My armchair guess would be that debt is keeping people chained to particular locations. If you live in a town that no one wants to live in, who will buy your house? If you go bankrupt or have a foreclosure on the record, it can be hard to move to locations with better opportunities. Many jobs require credit checks, so leaving the job you don't want can be a hassle.

adventured 8y ago
Despite popular myth, US households are in good condition when it comes to debt. The US household debt to income ratio is far lower than in nations such as Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, Switzerland, Ireland, Australia, South Korea, Britain and Canada (see: [1] [2]). US household debt service payments as a share of disposable income, are near a 40 year low. [3] [1] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-canada-economy-debt/canada-household-debt-to-income-near-record-high-home-sales-fall-idUSKCN1GR1RD https://www.reuters.com/article/us-canada-economy-debt/canad... [1a] https://i.imgur.com/XRJIDbi.jpg https://i.imgur.com/XRJIDbi.jpg [2] https://data.oecd.org/hha/household-debt.htm https://data.oecd.org/hha/household-debt.htm [3] https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/TDSP https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/TDSP
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- Broken_Hippo 8y ago
  This doesn't cancel the concerns, though. You can have bankruptcy and have little to no debt for years. A foreclosure, repo, or eviction can happen for various reasons. Maybe you simply got sick and were missing work. You can owe money on your house - a reasonable amount - and be stuck because you can't sell your house nor afford to both pay the current house mortgage and live somewhere else. Some of the "debt" things are special to being poor. Lose your job and can't pay the final cable bill? Collections. Can't pay the $600 hospital bill? Collections and eventual judgement. It doesn't take a large amount of debt to have it affect your life negatively when a flat tire puts your electricity at risk of being turned off.
- JibJabLab 8y ago
  I wouldn't have thought that but we're talking about smaller, "dying" towns here. Their financial/economic circumstances are going to be much different.
- spicymaki 8y ago
  Unfortunately in 2017 ~40% of US families would have trouble coming up with $400 to cover an unexpected expense. https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/files/2017-report-economic-well-being-us-households-201805.pdf https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/files/2017-repor... (see Dealing with Unexpected Expenses pg. 21)
- Jimpulse 8y ago
  I wonder if there's a correlation between American debt decreasing due to poor support for retired workers. Americans are wising up to the fact they need to save for their retirement since pensions are rare nowadays. I'm not familiar with the work structure in those other countries, but guessing there's a far better support structure for retirees compared to the US.

adventured 8y ago

Despite popular myth, US households are in good condition when it comes to debt. The US household debt to income ratio is far lower than in nations such as Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, Switzerland, Ireland, Australia, South Korea, Britain and Canada (see: [1] [2]). US household debt service payments as a share of disposable income, are near a 40 year low. [3] [1] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-canada-economy-debt/canada-household-debt-to-income-near-record-high-home-sales-fall-idUSKCN1GR1RD https://www.reuters.com/article/us-canada-economy-debt/canad... [1a] https://i.imgur.com/XRJIDbi.jpg https://i.imgur.com/XRJIDbi.jpg [2] https://data.oecd.org/hha/household-debt.htm https://data.oecd.org/hha/household-debt.htm [3] https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/TDSP https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/TDSP

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
Broken_Hippo 8y ago
This doesn't cancel the concerns, though. You can have bankruptcy and have little to no debt for years. A foreclosure, repo, or eviction can happen for various reasons. Maybe you simply got sick and were missing work. You can owe money on your house - a reasonable amount - and be stuck because you can't sell your house nor afford to both pay the current house mortgage and live somewhere else. Some of the "debt" things are special to being poor. Lose your job and can't pay the final cable bill? Collections. Can't pay the $600 hospital bill? Collections and eventual judgement. It doesn't take a large amount of debt to have it affect your life negatively when a flat tire puts your electricity at risk of being turned off.
JibJabLab 8y ago
I wouldn't have thought that but we're talking about smaller, "dying" towns here. Their financial/economic circumstances are going to be much different.
spicymaki 8y ago
Unfortunately in 2017 ~40% of US families would have trouble coming up with $400 to cover an unexpected expense. https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/files/2017-report-economic-well-being-us-households-201805.pdf https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/files/2017-repor... (see Dealing with Unexpected Expenses pg. 21)
Jimpulse 8y ago
I wonder if there's a correlation between American debt decreasing due to poor support for retired workers. Americans are wising up to the fact they need to save for their retirement since pensions are rare nowadays. I'm not familiar with the work structure in those other countries, but guessing there's a far better support structure for retirees compared to the US.