Dana Ehrlich, Attorney at Law, San Angelo, TX

CAVEAT: This site is not intended to provide specific legal advice. No attorney-client relationship will be established by visiting this site or viewing these pages. The intent of this site is simply to provide generally useful information. The discussions are based on Texas law, which may vary greatly from the law of your state. If you have any specific legal questions or problems, please consult an attorney of your choice, or you may contact the Law Office of Dana Ehrlich from this web site.

Bankruptcy by the Numbers

Contributing Editors: Ed Flynn Executive Office for U.S. Trustees
Washington D.C. and Gordon Bermant of Burke, Va.

Bankruptcy Filers Most Likely to be in 25-44 Age Range.
Data taken from a recent study of some 2,595 debtors shows that the peak bankruptcy filing ages are between 25-44 age range. People between the 45-59 age range file at about the rate that would be expected their proportion in the population at large. Filing in the 18-24 age range are less than one-half the expected rate, and the rate for people aged 60 or older is less than one-third the expected amount. These figures are consistent with those developed by Professors Sullivan, Westbrook and Warren that were cited in a recent report by the General Accounting Office. Debtors in their 20s were nearly all employed, and reported somewhat lower asset and debt levels than other debtors. Employment levels were also high for debtors in their 30s, and they had the largest family size for any age cohort. Compared to debtors of other ages, debtors in their 40s have the highest gross incomes, and the highest amounts of real personal property and secured and unsecured debt. Average family size and employment levels begin to drop for debtors in their 50s. Additionally, slighty lower homeownership rates in this age cohort led to lower real property and lower secure debt. Relatively few debtors aged 60 or older are employed, so gross monthly income is much lower. Homeownership is high, and many have equity in their homes because they are the only age cohort whose average real property is worth more than their secured debt. Nearly all of their general unsecured debt is from credit cards, and total credit card debt among the reporters in this age group is nearly twice their annual income.

Credit Card Debt by Age
Credit card debt levels increased steadily based on age of the debtors. Credit cards debt levels were relatively low for debtors under the age of 25. However, these amounts wer twice as high for debtors in their mid-30s, three times as high for debtors in 50s and about 5 times as high for debtors 60 or older.There have been reports of high levels of credit card debt and financial distress amoung college students. While many students may have become overextended or have over use te credit available to them, our data indicatethat very few are filing for chapter 7 bankruptcy.

In Conclusion

Our data, which we cannot be certain is a representative of all chapter 7
individuals debtors, indicates that of the reporting age group.

The peak bankruptcy years are 25-45;
Average incomes of debtors are about te same for all agges, except debtors 60 and older
Nearly 90 percent of debtors under the age 40 are employed
Debt, asset and income levels are highest for debtors in their 40s
Credit card debt increases with age, and accounts for a vast majority of total unsecured
debt reported by debtors 60 or older; and
Chapter 7 filings by college students are infrequent.

Back to the Index Page

Contributing Editors: Ed Flynn Executive Office for U.S. Trustees Washington D.C. and Gordon Bermant of Burke, Va.

Contributing Editors: Ed Flynn Executive Office for U.S. Trustees
Washington D.C. and Gordon Bermant of Burke, Va.