Unemployment, underemployment, salary cutbacks, divorce, medical emergencies and ballooning house payments all take their toll on household finances. This perfect storm of market conditions has resulted in skyrocketing credit card debt.
According to information gathered by the U.S. Census bureau, there were approximately 173 million credit card holders in the United States in 2006; a number projected to grow to 181 million this year. Americans charged approximately $1.950 billion in 2006 — just over $11,300 per cardholder (www.money-zine.com/Financial-Planning/Debt-Consolidation/Credit-Card-Debt-Statistics/).
At the same time, Americans carried approximately $886 billion in credit card debt; it’s a number expected to grow to a projected $1.177 billion by the end of this year.
