“We’re told that if you do go and get advanced education, you’re going to be almost guaranteed this economic success,” said Leslie Linfield, the group’s executive director. But the recession proved that “higher education was no guarantee that you weren’t going to be at risk.”
Prediction: It will do no use showing this to my dad and the next time I display an inability to immediately access knowledge on anything from how to change a wagon wheel to how to fix the nations debt crisis, he will tell me I would know “If I went to college” just as consistently as ever. Still, however:
But Linfield said the recent increase in the number of bankruptcy filings is driven largely by wealthier, more-educated households. The percentage of debtors with bachelor’s degrees peaked in 2009 and then inched down in 2010. Those with graduate degrees jumped from 4.9 percent in 2006 to 6.7 percent last year. And the share earning more than $60,000 rose from 5.5 to 9.2 percent.
Linfield said she is also concerned about the age of debtors. Over the past five years, the number of consumers filing for bankruptcy between ages 18 and 34 has fallen 31 percent, her group’s study found. Meanwhile, the number of people 55 and older, who have less time to recover financially, has jumped 25 percent.
