Summary
While those shaken by the recession are still stalling on paying down debt, those who weathered the storm are quickly recovering
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The survey analyzed three groups: the survivors whose financial health had improved since the recession started, those whose financial health declined and those whose financial health did not change. The latter two groups saw very small improvements when it came to paying credit card bills in full every month. Yet the first group, those who bounced back after the recession, have become 15 percent more likely to pay their credit card bills diligently.
This change in behavior is part of an overall trend in consumers’ attempts to shed financial complexity, according to the report. While those whose financial health has plummeted since the recession have packed on more loans (and more fees related to those loans), those whose financial health improved have been steadily off-loading financial burdens.
The chart below compares the credit card payment habits of the three surveyed groups. The survey, commissioned by Chase Blueprint, polled 1,242 consumers and has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

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