Recent changes to a measure of U.S. household debt service

Federal Reserve Bulletin, Oct, 2003 by Karen Dynan, Kathleen Johnson, Karen Pence

1. Share of dollars outstanding, by type of nonauto, nonrevolving
loans, 1983-2001

Percent

Year            Student                  Mobile Home
                Previous   Revised (1)   Previous   Revised (1)

1983/1985 (2)     30         28            19         24
1989              33         38            24         19
1992              37         51            14         15
1995              44         55             8         21
1998              17         53            11         21
2000/2001 (2)     12         58             6         21

                RV and marine            Personal
                Previous   Revised (1)   Previous   Revised (1)

1983/1985 (2)     10         21            40         28
1989              23         24            20         20
1992              29         17            21         17
1995              22         14            26         11
1998              37         18            36          8
2000/2001 (2)     31         14            51          8

(1.) These figures are based on loans reported to be from banks,
 finance companies, credit unions, and stores.

(2.) Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) data are available for 1983
and  2001, whereas American Bankers Association (ABA) data are
available for 1985 and 2000.

SOURCES: For "previous" column, American Bankers Association
Installment Credit Report. For "revised" column, Survey of Consumer
Finances, various waves.

2. Comparison of interest rates on nonauto, nonrevolving credit in
the SCF with those currently used in the DSR calculation, 1983-2001

Percent

                                         Proxy for RV, marine,
Year                 Student             and mobile home (1)

                Current                  Current
                DSR            SCF (2)   DSR

1983/1985 (3)    8.9           9.2       13.9
1989            10.9           8.3       11.9
1992             7.9           8.9        9.2
1995             8.1           8.4        9.4
1998             8.1           8.4        8.7
2000/2001 (3)    7.8           7.6        8.3

                RV and marine (2)   Mobile Home (2)

                       SCF

1983/1985 (3)   13.3                14.0
1989            12.5                11.8
1992             9.9                11.0
1995            10.4                10.5
1998             9.1                 9.3
2000/2001 (3)    9.4                 9.1

                    Personal

                Current
                DSR                 SCF (2)

1983/1985 (3)   18.1                17.7
1989            15.2                13.5
1992            14.7                13.4
1995            13.6                13.9
1998            13.8                12.1
2000/2001 (3)   13.6                13.6

(1.) The proxy is the interest rate on 48-month new car
loans at commercial banks.

(2.) These figures are based on loans reported to be from
banks, finance companies, credit unions, and stores.

(3.) SCF data are available for 1983 and 2001, whereas ABA
data are available for 1985 and 2000.

SCF Survey of Consumer Finances
DSR Debt service ratio.

SOURCES: RV, marine, mobile home, and personal loans:
Federal Reserve. Student loans: Sallie Mae. Survey of
Consumer Finances, various waves.

3. Contributions to the overall revision, 1980-2002

Percentage points

Component           1980-89    1990-94    1995-99

New data sources
Student loans        -.13       -.03         .22
Personal loans      -1.44       -.83       -1.11
RV and marine
loans                -.11       -.28        -.44
Mobile-home
loans                -.09       -.02         .09
Auto loans           -.03       -.04         .09
Total               -1.80      -1.20       -1.14

Broadened debt
service burden
Automobile leases     .03        .21         .53
Rental payments      3.38       3.36        3.14
Property taxes
and insurance        1.70       1.71        1.66
Total                5.11       5.28        5.33

Overall revision     3.31       4.08        4.19

                    2000-02    1980-2002

New data sources
Student loans         .50         .05
Personal loans      -1.26       -1.21
RV and marine
loans                -.53        -.27
Mobile-home
loans                 .07        -.01
Auto loans            .29         .03
Total                -.93       -1.41

Broadened debt
service burden
Automobile leases     .53         .33
Rental payments      2.91        3.20
Property taxes
and insurance        1.57        1.66
Total                5.01        5.19

Overall revision     4.08        3.78

4. Distribution of the debt of homeowners and renters,
by loan type, 1990-2002 (1)

Percent

Type of loan     Homeowners    Renters

Mortgage             82         ...
Credit card           7          40
Auto                  7          35
RV and marine         1           1
Mobile home           1         ...
Student               1          20
Personal              2           4

NOTE: Details may not sum to 100 because of rounding.

(1.) Percentages are calculated separately for each year and then
averaged.
... Not applicable

SOURCES: Federal Reserve, flow of funds accounts and G.19
Consumer Credit statistical release; data split with shares estimated
from the SCF.

5. NIPA income subcategories and survey data equivalents

NIPA income subcategory                         Survey source

Wage                                                 SCF
Employee benefits                                    CPS
Self-employment income                               SCF
Rental income net of imputed rent                    SCF
Imputed rent of homeowners (1)                       ...
Personal dividend and interest income                SCF
Transfer income (net of Medicare and Medicaid)       CPS
Medicare and Medicaid                                CPS

(1.) Assigned entirely to homeowner category.
... Not applicable.
SCF Survey of Consumer Finances.
CPS Current Population Survey.

6. Distribution of homeowner and renter income
across sources, 2001

Percent

Income source                   Homeowners   Renters

Wages                               53         63
Dividends, interest, and
self-employment income              28          8
Transfers and Medicaid               9         23
Employee benefits and Medicare       9          7

NOTE. Details do not sum to 100 because rental income and
imputed rent of homeowners are excluded from the table.

SOURCE. NIPA income data split with shares estimated from
the CPS and SCF.