Evolution of the Household Debt Narrative: A PRISMA-compliant Systematic Literature Review

This article focuses on the narratives that are developing in the household debt arena through a systematic and in-depth examination of the literature. The article used co-occurrence analysis to identify the major themes in the household debate followed by a review of the top 100 highly cited articles, which is supplemented with citation tracking. It is found that the past research mainly concentrates on the effect of financialization and deregulation of global markets, mortgages and housing bubbles, the upward trending inequality, the GDP growth and financial stability as well as the relationship between the household balance sheet and macroeconomic fluctuations. This study highlights the significant and upcoming trends in the study of household finances placing it at the centre of academic discourse on economic crisis and financial stability. It tracks the channels through which household debt could have potential impact on economic stability by summarizing the significant studies and deriving conclusions and direction for future research.