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"Average" Americans being affected by financial problemsThat's according to a study from the Institute for Financial Literacy which found that in addition to the average financially distressed American being more "average" than one might think, a number of other demographic groups also saw an increase in distress during 2008. The Annual Consumer Bankruptcy Demographics Report looked into the statistics of a number of American groups throughout the course of 2008 - the first full year of the current recession. According to the findings, being "overextended on credit" was the number one issue causing financial stress for Americans with 72.6 percent citing it as a problem - up from 69.2 percent in 2007. Jobs appear to also be playing a factor in a person's financial situation, but not necessarily unemployment. The report found that the percentage of those citing "job loss" as a cause of their stress dropped slightly in 2008. But during that same time, the percentage of people citing "reduction of income" increased 0.7 percent. This may indicate that cutbacks at companies are affecting Americans more than job losses.
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