KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Many households collected liquid assets during the pandemic, but high inflation and borrowing costs have caused them to use much of what they had saved.
- Consumer spending is faltering without the cushion coming out of the pandemic.
- Lower- and middle-income households are falling into credit card debt.
As people stayed home during the pandemic, their households stockpiled extra liquid assets—most of which have now run out.
Households accumulated cash, stocks, and interest-earning savings during the pandemic due to government assistance checks and stay-at-home orders that limited consumer spending. However, a recent report from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco found many households have now spent large amounts of that liquid wealth.
As the pandemic’s economic restrictions eased, the average cost of living skyrocketed. The Federal Reserve worked to tame the price increases on everything from groceries to rent by raising borrowing costs to a 23-year high. These interest rates were designed to discourage spending and allow supply to rebalance with demand.
Researchers found that consumers coped by dipping into the assets they collected during the pandemic.
Without Savings, Households are Taking On More Debt
Higher-income households have been able to increase their liquid assets by moving them into money market funds, which earned more interest during the Fed’s inflation fight. However, lower- and middle-income households needed to use their liquid assets to contend with high prices and interest rates.
As households ran out of the pandemic-era liquid assets, credit-card delinquency rates rose. Without the extra money they once had, many consumers paid for goods and services with credit cards. But those high borrowing costs are making it harder for people to pay off their debt, bringing delinquency rates to a 12-year high.
Debt not related to housing also increased over the past two years, reaching a record-high $4.9 trillion in the second quarter, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.