Unequally Indebted: Debt by Education, Race, and Ethnicity and the, Accumulation of Inequality in Emerging Adulthood.

ABSTRACT: Emerging adults in the U.S. face significant economic uncertainty during the early life course. Economic uncertainties grew in the 2000s, especially for the Millennial cohort. Access to credit can be a resource to manage the instability that characterizes emerging adulthood. However, debt can also become a burden, making credit like a "double-edged sword." We study inequality in debt holding for five debt types that provide distinct resources and burdens, including mortgages, car loans, student loans, credit cards, and other debts to businesses. We analyze the extent to which the Millennial cohort accumulated unequal debts by the end of emerging adulthood using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1997 Cohort. We find strikingly unequal debt holding by education, race/ethnicit

SUBMITTER: Dwyer RE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11600330 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature