TY - JOUR
T1 - Household debt in midlife and old age
T2 - A multinational study
AU - Lewin-Epstein, Noah
AU - Semyonov, Moshe
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016, © The Author(s) 2016.
PY - 2016/6/1
Y1 - 2016/6/1
N2 - This article examines the prevalence of household debt in middle and old age, in the context of rising consumption, the weakening welfare safety net, and the ‘democratization’ of credit. We aim to address theoretical propositions concerning household correlates of mortgage and financial debt, as well as the relationship between the two types of debt. We utilize data gathered on populations, aged 50 years and older, in 15 countries that participated in the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) project. We find considerable levels of mortgage and financial debt in advanced stages of life, as well as significant differences within and between countries. Controlling for country variation as well as individual and household attributes, we find a positive relationship between the size of mortgage debt and financial debt across most countries. We test alternative explanations for this relationship and discuss the implications of our findings in the broader context of the risks faced by older cohorts in consumer societies with shrinking welfare expenditure.
AB - This article examines the prevalence of household debt in middle and old age, in the context of rising consumption, the weakening welfare safety net, and the ‘democratization’ of credit. We aim to address theoretical propositions concerning household correlates of mortgage and financial debt, as well as the relationship between the two types of debt. We utilize data gathered on populations, aged 50 years and older, in 15 countries that participated in the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) project. We find considerable levels of mortgage and financial debt in advanced stages of life, as well as significant differences within and between countries. Controlling for country variation as well as individual and household attributes, we find a positive relationship between the size of mortgage debt and financial debt across most countries. We test alternative explanations for this relationship and discuss the implications of our findings in the broader context of the risks faced by older cohorts in consumer societies with shrinking welfare expenditure.
KW - Cross-national
KW - SHARE
KW - household debt
KW - inequality
KW - mortgage debt
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84982952384&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0020715216653798
DO - 10.1177/0020715216653798
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AN - SCOPUS:84982952384
SN - 0020-7152
VL - 57
SP - 151
EP - 172
JO - International Journal of Comparative Sociology
JF - International Journal of Comparative Sociology
IS - 3
ER -