000			01944 a2200193 4500
008			141216b2000 xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d
020			_a9780300091717
082			_a332.750673 _bS8F7
100			_aSullivan, Teresa A. _9307197
245			_aThe fragile middle class: Americans in debt _cSullivan, Teresa A.
260			_c2000 _bYale University Press _aNew Haven
300			_axvii, 380 p.
520			_aSince 1997, the number of American families filing for federal bankruptcy annually has exceeded one million. By most measures, those who file are members of the middle class—a group that has long provided stability and vitality for the American economic system. This raises the troubling question: why, during the most remarkable period of prosperity in our history, are unprecedented numbers of Americans encountering such serious financial trouble? The authors of this important book analyze court records and demographic data on thousands of bankruptcy cases, as well as debtors’ own poignant accounts of the reasons for their bankruptcies. For many middle-class Americans, the findings show, financial stability is fragile—almost any setback can be disastrous. The erosion of job stability, divorce and family instability, the visible and invisible costs of medical care, the burden of home ownership, and the staggering weight of consumer debt financed with plastic combine to threaten the financial security of growing numbers of middle-class families. The authors view the bankruptcy process in the light of changing cultural and economic factors and consider what this may signify for the future of a large, secure, and dynamic middle class. (http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/book.asp?isbn=9780300091717)
650			_aBankruptcy - United States
650			_aConsumer credit - United States
700			_aWarren, Elizabeth _9307203
700			_aWestbrook, Jay Lawrence _9307204
942			_2ddc _cBK
999			_c387138 _d387138