American consumers appear to have started to borrow again, if only marginally, more than six years after the beginning of the Great Recession. Total consumer debt rose 3.7% in the year ended March 31, 2014. This is mainly due to a slight increase in mortgage loans given the improvement in the housing market as well as a steep rise in student loans. Despite the recent increase, total consumer debt remains more than $1 trillion, or more than 8%, below what it was five years ago, mainly due to a drop in mortgage and home equity lending and credit card outstandings.

Despite the recent rise, consumers remain hesitant to take on new obligations just as lenders remain reluctant to extend credit. The one area that is growing strongly is student loans, which are now the second largest consumer loan category and the fastest growing by far, but also the one with the highest and fastest growing delinquency rate.

This report discusses how consumers are managing their debt, what their views are about debt and credit, and how this impacts their ability to save for both emergencies and retirement. The types of debt include mortgages, credit cards, HELOCs, automobile loans, and student loans.

This report looks at the following:

• How are consumers responding to their current levels of debt, and what are their plans for incurring more debt?

• What are their priorities in paying off debt?

• What groups are the least and most burdened by debt? How will this impact their ability to spend and save?

• What are consumer attitudes about people who have debt and taking on new debt?

This report builds on the analysis presented in Mintel’s Consumer Attitudes Towards Debt – US, July 2013, Consumers and the Economic Outlook – US, February 2014 and 2013, as well as the report American Lifestyles 2013 Five Years Later – US, April 2013.

For the purposes of this report, Mintel commissioned exclusive consumer research through GMI to explore consumers’ behavior and their attitudes toward debt. Mintel was responsible for the survey design, data analysis, and reporting. Fieldwork was conducted in April 2014 among a sample of 2,000 adults aged 18+ with access to the internet.

Mintel selects survey respondents so that they are proportionally balanced to the entire US adult population based on the key demographics of gender, age, household income, and region. Mintel also slightly oversamples, relative to the population, respondents that are Hispanic or Black to ensure an adequate representation of these groups in our survey results. Please note that Mintel’s exclusive surveys are conducted online and in English only. Hispanics who are not online and/or do not speak English are not included in our survey results.

While race and Hispanic origin are separate demographic characteristics, Mintel often compares them to each other. Please note that the responses for race (White, Black, Asian, Native American, or other race) will overlap those that also are Hispanic, because Hispanics can be of any race.

All estimated mail volume data and consumer direct mail marketing creatives are provided by Mintel Comperemedia. Mintel Comperemedia is a searchable competitive database tracking direct mail, print, and online advertising in the US and Canada, as well as email in the US. Comperemedia tracks information across eight sectors: Banking, Credit Card, Investments, Insurance, Mortgage and Loan, Telecom, Travel and Leisure, and Automotive.

For more information, please contact Account Services Management at 312.450.6353 or www.mintel.com.

The following is a list of abbreviations used in this report:

Terms

• Consumer Price Index According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the CPI is “a measure of the average change over time in the prices paid by urban consumers for a basket of consumer goods and services.”

• Crowdfunding Fund raising, usually over the internet, often for nonprofit and political purposes but also to raise investment money for business ventures.

• Gross Domestic Product The value of the goods and services produced within a country, measured over a specific period of time (such as quarterly or annually).

• Personal Consumption Expenditures According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, PCE (personal consumption expenditures) is the primary measure of consumer spending on goods and services in the US economy. It shows how much of the income earned by households is being spent on current consumption as opposed to how much is being saved for future consumption.

• Underwater A mortgage or home is said to be “underwater” if the mortgage balance exceeds the estimated value of the property. Homes that are underwater are far more likely to be at risk for default or foreclosure.

Generations are discussed within this report, and they are defined as:

* also known as Generation Y