While many have benefited from years of rock-bottom interest rates the burden of household debt has not greatly declined since the financial crisis and now the era of ultra-cheap borrowing is likely to be drawing to a close. A large swathe of households remains highly exposed to the effects of rising interest rates. Yet while rates remain low there is still time for lenders and policy-makers to take action to avert some of the worst consequences of the debt overhang. At this event Katie Blacklock and Matthew Whittaker presented Resolution Foundation’s latest analysis of which households are most at risk and what policy responses might be needed to help ease the adjustment back to a more normal era of monetary policy. Adair Turner, economist and former chairman of the Financial Services Authority, set out his own analysis of the household debt problem and gave his assessment of the Resolution Foundation’s work. The event forms part of the Resolution Foundation’s Deconstructing Debt project with the final recommendations to be published by the summer.
