Landmark Study Based on New "Middle Class Security Index" Finds 3 out of 4 African-American and 4 out of 5 Latino Middle-Class F

"Credit Card Reform Act" Will Put the Brakes on Wild Interest Rate Hikes, Changes in Terms of Agreements and Extreme Penalties

New York, NY — American families are using credit cards to bridge the gaps created by stagnant wages and higher costs of living and balances have grown dramatically since 1989, according to a new report published today by Demos. Borrowing to Make Ends Meet: the Rapid Growth of Credit Card Debt in

New York, NY — As health care costs continue to rise faster than incomes, families are turning to credit cards to pay for medical care, according to new research by Demos and the Access Project. The public policy groups published the findings today in a report entitled "Borrowing to Stay Healthy

New York, NY — Homeowners have been tapping into their home equity to get the cash needed to pay down credit card debt incurred not for luxury expenses, but for basic needs. This strategy leaves them on precarious financial footing after two years of interest rate hikes and the largest drop in home

Robert Frank, an economist at Cornell University, for instance, found that in counties with the widest income gaps, rates of personal bankruptcy and divorce rates were higher than average.

Draut argues that "with the possible exception of having a larger array of entertainment and other goods to purchase, members of Generation X appear to be worse off by every measure" than prior generations.

According to the advocacy group Demos, the average balance among lower- and middle-income households is $8,650. "World News Tonight's" special series "Credit Crunch" aims to help you get on the road to becoming debt free.

A fraudulent appraisal "can lead homeowners to borrow more money than their homes are worth, putting themselves at risk of being 'upside down' in a home -- e.g. not being able to sell for a high enough price to pay off their mortgage," according to a briefing paper on appraisal fraud put out by

Americans owe $800 billion in credit card debt, more than triple the amount from 1989, and a 31 percent increase from five years ago, according to a recent report, "The Plastic Safety Net," by the Center for Responsible Lending, and Demos, a research group based in New York. The study found that a