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Consumer debt has been increasing for years, on average over 8% each year for the past 20 years, resulting in the average family carrying over $58,000 in debt. Credit card usage has skyrocketed, while income has barely increased. It’s no wonder bankruptcy filings are rising more than 20% each year.

In 2007, 751,056 bankruptcies were filed. That number increased to 967,831 in 2008, and it’s projected that over 1.5 million filings could occur in 2009 due to the economic crisis and record unemployment levels.

Other bankruptcy statistics might surprise you though:

• 66% of chapter 13 bankruptcy filings are dismissed or converted to a chapter 7 bankruptcy
• 38 years old is the average age of filers
• 44% of bankruptcy filings are couples
• 30% are women filing alone
• 66% of bankruptcy filers have lost their jobs
• 50% of filers have a serious health issue
• 91% of filers have experienced, job loss, medical problems or divorce

As you can see, most bankruptcy filings are a result of a serious problem that affects income and or expenses, which is exactly what bankruptcy is designed to deal with.