As reported by thenewyorkfed.org: "As of September 30, 2017, total household indebtedness was $12.96 trillion." This is the highest household indebtedness in the history of the United States, even higher than its previous peak in Quarter 3 of 2008, in which the only possible mitigating factors to take away from this debt level, is that on an average total debt per indebted household, today's average at $134,642.86 is lower than 2008's average of $142,122.44, in addition to the fact that though inflation has been low over the last decade, the value of money still has declined. The reason then that the aggregate indebtedness number presently is higher, even though the average household debt is lower, is because there are more households in America than there were a decade ago.
This above household indebtedness is calculated by the amount of debt that the average household has for credit card loans, student loans, auto loans, and mortgage loans, in which as reported by studentloanhero.com, the average credit card rate for those that are assessed interest is 13.61% APR, the average mortgage rate is 4.10% APR, and the average auto loan rate is 4.79% for a new car. In regards to the interest rate charges for mortgages and auto loans, these continue to be at or near historic lows, though the future trend, based on the desire of the Federal Reserve to want to "normalize rates" is for these to go up in the near future. As for credit card rates, creditcards.com reported that as of November, 2017, the "national average APR stayed put at 16.15 percent," so that rate has already begun its move up.
The problem of debt for households that have it, are manifold, starting with the sheer amount of debt that must be paid in a timely manner per the conditions of such a debt, regardless of circumstances, so that losing one's job, ill health, incarceration, divorce, car repair, and other unexpected expenses or events, can take a given household that was doing just fine, and turn things upside down in just a manner of weeks, perhaps never to recover ever again. Additionally, for loans that are not fixed, in which, the present trend is for interest rate charges to go up over time, higher interest rates, mean higher minimum payments that are necessary in order to stay current on a given loan. So that, if it is a struggle to maintain one's debt today, higher interest rates, will make that struggle far, far worse.
In addition, take a look at the categories of basic debt in which people need the following things: a house or place to live in, which is mortgage debt, a car or vehicle to drive in, which is auto loan debt, higher education to get ahead in life, which is student debt, and things such as food, clothing, and healthcare, which often need credit cards to procure, which is credit card debt. The main reason why there is so much debt in America is not really because Americans on average are such spendthrifts, but fundamentally because Americans on average do not earn enough income that enables them to earn a living and live, without going into debt.
The most basic problem of debt, is the service of that debt, that is to say, with the exception of some credit card teaser rates, which set a 0% interest for a period of 12 months or so, all debt, costs the consumer money, that is to say, to borrow money now, will cost the consumer money over not only the short term but over the long term, until such debt is fully discharged, if it ever is fully discharged. So that $100,000 borrowed today for a mortgage, for instance, at 4.1%, will cost over that thirty year span $173,951, not $100,000, and if that mortgage rate is 6.0%, the cost would over that thirty year period be $215,838, so the rate of interest that a borrower has to pay, is a very significant factor, along with the fact that whenever money is borrowed, the borrower must pay in total, more money to the lender than they borrowed in the first place.
This very high average household debt, represents on a fundamental level, that the borrowers of the money, do not currently have the funds to purchase the things that they need, so they borrow money to do so, in which, a significant portion of these people will not ever fully and successfully discharge their debt, but will essentially, like the Federal government and its national debt, continue to kick the can down the road, until such a time as they cannot.