Indebtedness of Greek Households : Evidence from a Survey

This paper assesses the level of households’ indebtedness and their financial stress using the results of a specific household survey conducted for this purpose in late 2002 - early 2003 by the Bank of Greece. The study also investigates the extent to which demographic and socio-economic characteristics of a household determine the probability of it being indebted. The survey results suggest that household debt in Greece is limited in relation to annual income and wealth, with outstanding debt usually not exceeding its annual income, even for households at the lowest income levels. For the majority of households, debt servicing obligations are well within their income capacity. Logistic regression analysis shows that the degree of urbanization (density of population) in the area of residence, the household's composition, the age and the educational level of the household head, the number of household members in employment and the household's income and wealth are all significant in determining the probability that a household will resort to borrowing