The Graying of American Debt

Abstract

Real aggregate debt in the hands of Americans age 50 to 80 increased by 59 percent between 2003 and 2015. Meanwhile, real debt held by Americans in their 20s and 30s was approximately flat. Using data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Consumer Credit Panel, we describe the extent of this debt increase and the distribution of debt growth by loan type. Real per capita home-secured debts held by older consumers show the steepest growth, though older borrowers have increased their obligations in all major debt categories. For long-held debts, these developments lead us to evaluate how such changes emerged.