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Bankruptcy As Social Safety Net, Pamela Foohey

Online Publications

One in ten Americans have filed bankruptcy at some point during their adult lives. Contrary to the pronouncements of some politicians, these filings do not reflect a series of personal failures and should not be understood as failures of character. Indeed, most of the people who file bankruptcy struggle for years to pay their debts before turning to bankruptcy law and courts for help. And most of the people who file say that they felt shame upon filing. Instead, the bankruptcy filings of millions and millions of people reflect systematic policy choices over the past forty years that have left …