Household Debt Remains Startlingly Low

Household debt has hit yet another record. Should we be worried?

Michael Strain says no, and I agree. This time, though, it’s more than my usual gripe about not adjusting for inflation. The thing to look at isn’t raw debt in the first place, but how much it’s affecting family finances:

The average family is spending less than 10 percent of its income on debt payments. This is the lowest it’s been since the Fed started tracking it. So not only is there nothing to worry about, you can even make a case that household debt ought to be a little higher than it is.

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In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

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