ALEXANDRIA, Va. — According to an upcoming ABI Journal article about consumers who filed for bankruptcy last year, researchers found that the majority of filers were Caucasian, married, employed, between the ages of 35 and 54, had at least a high school education and made no more than $30,000 annually.

These revelations came through a survey by the Institute for Financial Literacy, which gathered information voluntarily provided by 52,181 clients seeking pre-bankruptcy credit counseling and pre-discharge financial-management courses in 2009.

Written by IFL executive director Leslie Linfield, the upcoming article titled "Class of 2009: The Great Recession's Impact on the American Debtor" also details how more Americans are filing for bankruptcy due to income reductions, job losses and overextended credit.

Linfield asserts that the recession had an additional impact on the demographics of older Americans, those of Asian descent and those with an educational background of a bachelor's degree or higher and Americans earning $60,000 or more annually.

Confirming an earlier study on age and bankruptcy included in the September edition of the ABI Journal, Linfield ascertained that filers 55 to 64 years old as well as 65 year and older "appear to be experiencing an increased deterioration in their financial conditions and filing bankruptcy at greater rates than in previous years."

Though 80 percent of respondents to a recent ABI Quick Poll found that medical debt is a large contributing factor in consumer bankruptcy filings, Linfield also mentioned that IFL's survey found that the percentage of Americans filing due to illness/injury decreased from 33 percent in 2008 to 31.1 percent in 2009.

Furthermore, the IFL discovered that the recession has taken a rising toll on consumers as more have been filing bankruptcy due to overextended credit. The institute's data showed an increase from 72.6 percent in 2008 to 73.4 percent in 2009 of consumers claiming overextended credit as their primary reason for filing.

Linfield also pointed out two other causes of financial distress increased from 2008 to 2009. She determined 64.5 percent of IFL's survey respondents cited a reduction of income as a primary reason for filing, up from 57.1 percent a year earlier. And Linfield noted job loss was a primary reason for filing at 42.3 percent in 2009, up from 37.6 percent a year earlier.

2010 Bankruptcy Filings Rise

ABI reported an 11-percent rise in the amount of bankruptcies during the first nine months of this year as compared to the same time frame of 2009.

From Jan. 1 through Sept. 30, based on data from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, 1,222,589 U.S. bankruptcies were filed. In the first nine months of last year, 1,100,035 cases were filed.

Discussing consumer filings, the institute discovered the year-over-year rise almost mirrored the overall climb.

ABI said consumer filings totaled 1,179,573 for the first nine months of 2010, representing nearly a 12-percent increase over 1,054,525 filed during the same period in 2009.

While consumer bankruptcies are on the rise, ABI found that business bankruptcies are on a downward trend.

U.S. Court data showed 43,016 business bankruptcies were recorded during the first three quarters of 2010. That amount represented nearly a 6-percent drop from the 45,510 business filings during the same period in 2009.

When looking at just the three-month period that ended Sept. 30, ABI reported 412,380 total U.S. bankruptcies. This was a 6-percent increase over the 388,485 cases filed during the third quarter of 2009.

Third-quarter consumer filings came in at 398,423, a 7-percent jump over the 373,308 filed during the same period of 2009.

Consumer Chapter 7 filings totaled 280,006, a figure 5 percent higher than the 2009 third-quarter total of 265,721. Chapter 13 consumer filings also increased to 117,893 from 107,142, producing a 10-percent jump from the year-ago quarter.

Turning over to business filings in the third quarter, the amount totaled 13,957. The figure represented an 8-percent decline from the 15,177 business filings in 2009.

A breakdown by category showed Chapter 11 business filings decreased nearly 5 percent to 2,916 during the third quarter, compared to the 3,060 filings during the same period in 2009. Chapter 7 business filings totaled 9,807, representing a 9-percent decrease from the 10,798 filings in the year-ago quarter.

Nonetheless, ABI executive director Samuel Gerdano emphasized bankruptcies have continued to increase since the 2005 amendments to the Bankruptcy Code.

"As the economy looks to climb out of the recent recession, businesses and consumers continue to file for bankruptcy to regain their financial footing," Gerdano stressed.

"With unemployment hovering near 10 percent and access to credit remaining tight, total filings in 2010 will likely exceed 1.6 million," he projected.

ABI wrapped up its latest analysis by sharing filing figures for the 12-month period that ended Sept. 30.

All told, the institute said there were 1,596,355 total filings during that span, up nearly 14 percent from the same period in 2009, which totaled 1,402,816.

Non-business filings constituted 1,538,033 filings, also an increase of 14 percent from the 1,344,095 total non-business filings calculated over the same period a year earlier.

However, ABI indicated business filings decreased slightly during this 12-month period. The amount came in at 58,322 business filings, a figure that marked a nearly 1-percent dip from the 58,721 business petitions filed a year ago.

As far as what kinds of bankruptcies, the recent 12-month span included 1,146,511 total Chapter 7 filings. That figure computed into a 16-percent increase from the 989,227 filings during the year-ago period.

Readings for the other categories included:

—Chapter 13: Up 9 percent from 398,210 to 434,839.

—Chapter 12: Up 45 percent from 487 to 707.

—Chapter 11: Down 4 percent from 14,745 to 14,191.