Bankruptcy may actually be linked to getting married, earning a college degree or landing a well-paying job, The Wall Street Journal reports.
A study released Tuesday by the Institute for Financial Literacy found that from 2006 to 2010, bankruptcy filings increased among college graduates and those earning $60,000 or more annually. Additionally, in 2010, 64 percent of bankruptcy filers surveyed were married.
The study of some 50,000 individuals that filed for bankruptcy in the past five years found that those holding a bachelor’s degree accounted for 13.58 percent of filings last year, up from 11.2 percent in 2006. While those holding high school diplomas still accounted for the largest percentage of filers, 36.27 percent, their proportion of all filers fell by 8.6 percent.
Those earning $60,000 or more accounted for 9.2 percent of all filings last years, up from 5.5 percent in 2006. The number of filers who were married rose above 60 percent in the past five years, up from 57.2 percent in 2006.
Those most at risk for bankruptcy were individuals who attended college but did not earn a degree. They accounted for 28.7 percent of filings last year. “This we suspect is because they have all the burdens of school-related debt and none of the rewards of an actual degree,” the study’s authors told The Journal.
