Over the past decade, credit card debt among 18-24 year olds rose by 104 percent according to a report released by the nonprofit research organization Demos entitled "Generation Broke: The Growth of Debt Among Young Americans."
Although over a third of young adults own credit cards, young people receive little in the way of financial education.
Demos concludes that any meaningful attempt to explain the widening debt gap between Latino and African-American families and their white counterparts must take into account the larger social, cultural and economic forces driving credit card debt.
According to New York-based Demos, between 1998 and 2001, Latino households saw a 19% growth in credit card balances, African Americans stood at 10% and white households saw an 11% decrease.
"I don't think that anyone can assume that the appraised value of their home is based on reality," said research director David Callahan of Demos, a public-policy center in New York. "Appraisal fraud is so common that homeowners need to assume the opposite." Demos released a report about appraisal fraud in March, sparking intense discussion in the real-estate media.
No one knows exactly how often appraisers tinker with reality. But reports suggest they face enormous pressure to tweak their numbers.
Associate Director of the Democracy Program Ludovic Blain testifies before the Vermont House Government Operations Committee regarding Election Day Registration.
We live in an age when credit card debt has skyrocketed among young adults. It has risen 104 percent from 1992 to 2004 among 18- to 24-year-olds according to "Generation Broke: The Growth of Debt Among Young Americans," a report from Demos, a nonpartisan, nonprofit New York City-based research organization.
While real income gains were realized during the economic boom over the latter half of the 1990s, the average American's credit card debt rose faster than ever before. While balances grew faster for white families than for African-American and Hispanic families, all groups experienced a significant rise in debt between 1992 and 2001. African-American and Hispanic families were more likely, overall, to carry a credit card balance than whites.
"I don't think that anyone can assume that the appraised value of their home is based on reality. Appraisal fraud is so common that homeowners need to assume the opposite," says research director David Callahan of Demos, a public policy center. Demos released a report about appraisal fraud in March, sparking intense discussion in the real estate press.
No one knows exactly how often appraisers tinker with reality. But reports suggest that they face enormous pressure to tweak their numbers.
In April 2005 Demos urged Congress to recognize the fragility of our debt driven consumer economy when considering the bankruptcy "reform" bill (S. 256/H.R. 685) that had been passed by the Senate and was under consideration in the House of Representatives. American families are not suffering from "irresponsible consumerism," as Senate sponsor Chuck Grassley claims, but from the effects of a stagnant economy and fraying social supports.
After a careful review of dozens of surveys and thousands of survey questions, most conducted within the past five years, the author categorized several images of government that emerge from existing surveys. These images are somewhat subjective and are simply intended to illuminate patterns in opinion that can lead to strategic insights for communicators. The analysis is constrained by the limits of existing opinion data, meaning that other images of government undoubtedly exist but were not apparent in existing surveys.
Many Americans have reduced the equity in their home to pay off credit card debts and cover day-to-day expenses. More troubling still is evidence that many appraisers fraudulently inflate property values during the buying or refinancing of homes. This paper explores the implications of appraisal fraud.
According to the consumer advocacy group Demos, from 1992 to 2001, the youngest adults (18 to 24 years old) saw the sharpest rise in credit-card debt-104 percent-to an average of $2,985. The second-highest increase-55 percent-was among young adults (25 to 34 years old), who also had the second highest bankruptcy rate, just after those ages 35 to 44.
According to the educational lender Nellie Mae, incoming college freshmen will amass $1,500 in credit-card debt before the end of their first term.
Passage of the bankruptcy bill would make it harder for families struck by financial misfortune to get back on track. It would benefit the very profitable ($30 billion in 2004) credit card industry at the expense of the modest-income families who represent the great majority of those who declare bankruptcy.
The children of the New Economy have responded to the economic disparity and social insecurities in our schools, neighborhoods and workplaces with a backlash against government bashing.
Associate Director of the Democracy Program Ludovic Blain testifies before the Vermont Senate Government Operations Committee regarding Election Day Registration.
Experts debate if the housing market is an overinflated bubble, or a strong seller's market.
The forum was sponsored by Demos, a public advocacy group that among other issues concentrates on questions of economic opportunity.
Flaw-proof election machines. Easy-to-read ballots. Registration systems that catch double-voters or dead voters still on the rolls. For top state election officials meeting here, the pressure is on to make sure the election changes demanded after President Bush's disputed 2000 victory are in place by the Jan.
A new report by Demos and the Center for Governmental Studies that shows that current (February 2005) legislation and proposed initiatives on redistricting in California all fail to sufficiently address the needs of the public, and suggests clear guidelines for much fairer redistricting.
Senior Policy Associate Javier Silva examines the new financial insecurities created as more Americans refinance their homes.
That's the short version of a new and disturbing study by Silva called "House of Cards: Refinancing the American Dream." It shows how millions of U.S. households are falling into a vicious cycle of tapping their credit cards and then refinancing their mortgages to extract needed cash from the equity in their homes.
In response to ever-increasing financial pressures, families have come to depend on high-cost credit as a way to bridge the gap between stagnant or decreasing incomes and rising costs. How are families coping with their new burden? To hang on to the American Dream, to be part of the ownership society, homeowners are depleting their homes’ equity to pay off a growing mountain of unsecured debt —a financial strategy fraught with serious consequences.