Unfortunately, it's a freedom many people don't know. Even though most Americans appear to be handling their debt just fine, a significant—and growing—number of people are in serious trouble. Consumer bankruptcy filings have more than doubled since 1990, as shown in Table 3.2.
Year | Total Nonbusiness Filings |
---|---|
1990 | 718,107 |
1991 | 872,438 |
1992 | 900,874 |
1993 | 812,898 |
1994 | 780,455 |
1995 | 874,642 |
1996 | 1,124,286 |
1997 | 1,349,510 |
1998 | 1,405,695 |
1999 | 1,281,360 |
2000 | 1,217,628 |
2001 | 1,451,789 |
2002 | 1,566,358 |
2003 | 1,624,677 |
2004 | 1,563,145 |