Financial Collapse and Class Status: Who Goes Bankrupt?

Every policy prescription, economic analysis, or news report about consumer bankruptcy rests on one or another unspoken image of the estimated 1.5 million families that will file in a single year. Data from the 2001 Consumer Bankruptcy Project permit a systematic analysis of the composition of those who file for personal bankruptcy, focusing on their education, occupation, and home ownership status. These attributes serve as a proxy for class identification. Based on these indicia, more than 90 per cent of the families in bankruptcy qualify as middle class. These data are a powerful reminder that whatever else might be said about those in bankruptcy, these people are not some subgroup of Americans safely distanced from the middle class, but instead are co-workers, neighbours, and families woven throughout the fabric of American society.