Survey from Fed to look at consumer finances, debt

By Angela Hawke on Apr 20th, 2010

Debt will be one subject of a survey conducted for the Federal Reserve Board by a research firm.

The National Opinion Research Center will conduct the Survey of Consumer Finances for the central bank. The poll, which is taken every three years, gives the Fed an idea of the state of consumer finances, from what households own to the way they deal with their debt.

The survey has been taken since 1983 and has informed a number of policy changes, including reforms for deposit insurance and consumer debt.

"This survey is one of the nation's primary sources of information on the financial condition of different types of households," said Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke.

What remains to be seen is what the survey's results will uncover. Data from the poll will be released in 2012 once it has been analyzed by the Fed. Given recent economic difficulties, the 2010 survey may show that consumers have had to change their financial strategies to deal with increasing credit card debt interest rates and fees.

Furthermore, an unemployment rate that has hovered near 10 percent for a number of months may have caused consumers to have to rely on debt to make ends meet.

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