‘Financial Stress Forecast’ for American Families Grows Worse

Feb. 14—According to a Feb. 12 study by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC), financial stress indicators in the United States are at the highest level since the nonprofit group began to keep records in 2018. The top stress indicators which the NFCC follows are the number of people falling behind in payments, and also the debt-to-income levels of people in crisis. These stress indicators were at a record high for the last three consecutive quarters of 2025, and are surging higher in the first quarter of 2026.

The study reveals that higher-income Americans are falling behind in payments. Before the pandemic, the average income of clients seeking help from credit-counseling agencies across the country was about $40,000 per year and they carried $10,000 in unsecured debt—roughly 25% of their annual income. However, now the average income of clients is $70,000 per year with nearly $35,000 of unsecured debt, which is about half of their annual income.

There is a growing “invisible distress,” where families often prioritize credit card payments over other obligations, such as utilities, which only conceals the problem until default. Traditional financial buffers are gone, as some people have used their home as collateral for loans to cover basic expenses. Increasingly this debt is not from discretionary spending, but covers payments for bare essentials, “survival spending.” The study states, “a growing segment of the population is not just overextended—they are technically insolvent.”

Earlier this week the Federal Reserve Bank of New York issued the Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit stating that U.S. household debt now stands at $18.8 trillion and the delinquency rate rose to 4.8% in the fourth quarter of 2025, the highest level since 2017.