According to the Research and Information Institution on Income,
the financial situation of individuals has deteriorated in 1997.
The Institute notes that in real terms the disposable
individual income fell 1.2 per cent in 1996 and that the decrease
has continued throughout 1997. It fell 2.4 per cent in the first
quarter of 1997 and by 1.7 per cent in the second quarter
compared to the same period the previous year.
The rate of individual savings, which remained at 7.5 per
cent in 1994 and 1995, rapidly decreased to 4.3 per cent in 1996.
The decrease has continued in 1997, with the overall savings rate
reaching 1.6 per cent in the first quarter and 0.5 per cent in
the second.
The number of individual bankruptcies has continued to
increase, going from 20,842 in 1995 to 24,887 in 1996.
TML DAILY, 12/4/97
Shawgi Tell
Graduate School of Education
University at Buffalo
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
