Financial Collapse and Class Status: Who Goes Bankrupt?

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Abstract
Every policy prescription, economic analysis, or news report about consumer bankruptcy rests on one or another unspoken image of the estimated 1.5 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 education, occupation, and home ownership status. These attributes serve as a proxy for class identification. Based on these indicia, more than 90 per cent 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 subgroup of Americans safely distanced from the middle class, but instead are co-workers, neighbours, and families woven throughout the fabric of American society.

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