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From the 1980s to the 2008 crisis, household debt in the US has been persistent and rising phenomenon. Less than a decade after the crash, it resumed to positive growth rates.

This paper looks at household credit as a structural feature of the US economy. Given the assumption about this deeply financialized context, it observes the co-distribution of different types of debt, income and wealth, in order to explore whether household finances could be a useful indicator for the definition of social classes.

In addition, we define and explore the different degrees of fragility and riskiness to which households are exposed while recognizing that household debt “historical” sustainability depends crucially on the type and amount of outstanding debt as well as on its class distribution and on the macroeconomic conditions, including public policies.