While the recession has noticeably affected the lives of people in all walks of life, a recent study suggests that the elderly may have been among the hardest hit during the economic downturn.
According to a recent report released by public policy group Demos, Americans aged 65 years and older were one of the most susceptible groups to falling into debt during the current recession, the Washington Post reported.
The report found that older low- and middle- income Americans who carried a debt balance for more than three months had an average credit card debt of $10,235. The number reflected a 26 percent increase over the same figures taken in 2005, well before the recession began.
The reasoning for such burgeoning debt from older Americans was found to primarily be due to their need to pay off rising medical costs that they incurred while dealing with stingy health insurance providers using credit cards they could not necessarily afford.
Instead of exhausting a credit card on essential medical expenses and putting themselves further into debt, elder Americans could also consider taking out short term loans to cover their expenses.
