Low to moderate income families in the United States are burdened by debt, from mortgages, credit cards, and student loans, to
installment, payday, pawnshop and loans from friends and family, to arrears on obligations such as rent, utilities, taxes, legal
financial obligations, child support, and bank fees. One third of Americans have an account in collections; unpaid bills account for
over one-third of delinquent debt. Black and Latinx people are more likely than Whites to have unmanaged debt, due to poverty
resulting from historical and ongoing structural racism. Unmanaged debt diminishes families’ ability to pay for basic needs (food,
shelter, heat, clothes, and medical care), and makes it difficult to plan ahead and invest in their futures. Being in debt can also have serious physical and mental health impacts. When families struggle with debt, the broader economic health of their communities and the city suffers; tax revenues are low, children need additional support in school, and municipal dollars have to be spent on food, energy and homeless assistance, as well as addressing neighborhood blight and urban renewal. The COVID-19 health crisis has worsened the situation for many families that were already burdened by debt. People with low incomes, particularly Black and Latinx people, have been forced to spend savings, borrow, and fall behind on bills.

We know too little about the various types of debt burdening families, how that debt intersects with other forms of disadvantage
and economic insecurity or how local policies and practices impact debt. The New Haven debt map (NHDM) seeks to understand
more about the types of debt held by low to moderate-income families in New Haven, how that debt impacts their well-being, and
what policies need to change or be enacted to relieve the debt burden.

We conducted an online and telephonic survey during the summer of 2020 with 402 residents of New Haven. Surveys were
conducted between 06-02-2020 and 08-16-2020. Respondents were over 18 years of age and primarily from lower-income segments of New Haven’s population. We deliberately targeted lower-income residents with the goal of understanding how debt impacts this group; currently we know much less about the debt of this population as compared to higher-income groups. People were recruited through partner organizations including All our Kin, The Board of Alders, Elm City Communities, Christian Community Action, Community Action Agency of New Haven, Community Alliance for Research and Engagement (CARE) at Southern Connecticut State University, Community Management Teams, The Justice Housing and Health Study (JustHouHS), Liberty Community Services, the Medical-Legal Partnership Project (MLPP) at Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital, Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven, the New Haven Financial Empowerment Center, New Haven Legal Assistance, New Haven Promise, New Haven Public Library, The Community Builders, The Semilla Collective, The Student Loan Fund New Haven, Yale Unions, Witnesses to Hunger and Workforce Alliance. Each organization shared a link to the online survey with their clients and networks. We also recruited through researchers’ personal networks and using snowballing techniques. A telephone number was provided for people without internet access or who preferred to complete the survey over the phone. Advertisements were also placed in Facebook to recruit respondents.