"Young Americans More Saddled with Debt" (The Wall Street Journal)

According to new research by Assistant Professor Jason Houle, more than a third of today’s young Americans (age 24 to 28) have more debt than assets, reports The Wall Street Journal. “That’s roughly double the proportion of their peers in the late 1980s and mid-1970s,” notes the newspaper.

Houle examined how the type of debt carried by young Americans has changed since the 1970s. Houle, as assistant professor of sociology, found that today’s young Americans have less home-related debt, but more education debt than previous generations. “As the transition to adulthood has protracted, and the costs of education have risen, young adults have shifted their credit use away from home mortgage debt and towards student loan and consumer debt,” says Houle.

Read the full story, published 9/9/14 by The Wall Street Journal.