Feature Story

March 19, 2008

How Households Expect to Cope in a Financial Emergency

From Urban Institute Latest ReportsSearch:

How households cope with financial emergencies depends largely on the resources at their disposal. Differential access to good financial options affects how much households pay for credit in a time of need, which can vary substantially. Using data from the Making Connections Cross-Site Survey (20022004), we examine how households with incomes over $30,000 and those with incomes below $30,000 would respond in a financial emergency and find that in general, higher-income households were more likely to use conventional methods while lower-income households were more likely to use alternative (and often more expensive) methods to pay unexpected bills. Read more from this post.