Is Trump Failing? Analysis Shows US Households 'Drowning In Debt'

Nearly 14 million American households face utility debt so severe that it has been, or soon will be, sent to a collections agency.

The Century Foundation (TCF) and the advocacy group Protect Borrowers analysed individual-level credit records and found that overdue utility balances rose to an average of $789 (£600) and that nearly one in 20 households were in severe arrears as of June 2025. That surge in utility delinquencies sits alongside record-high household liabilities and rising 90-day-plus delinquencies in several consumer credit categories, creating what analysts describe as a widening affordability crisis that intersects with politics and energy policy. The data present a concrete metric of financial strain, and a fresh political challenge for the White House as voters complain about the cost of living.

Rising Utility Bills And A Growing Debt Burden

TCF's paper, 'Fueling Debt: How Rising Utility Costs Are Overwhelming American Families', uses a nationally representative sample drawn from the University of California Consumer Credit Panel to show that average monthly energy bills rose from $196 in March 2022 to $265 in June 2025; past-due utility balances climbed from $597 to $789 in the same period. Converted at market rates on 17 November 2025, that $789 equates to about £600 ($789). The report finds the burden is sharply unequal: Black and Asian households carry the highest overdue balances, and deep-subprime borrowers are experiencing the steepest rises.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) and other industry trackers confirm retail electricity prices have risen faster than inflation since 2022, a key driver of the squeeze on household budgets.

Higher fuel and transmission costs, plus regional stresses such as extreme heat or cold, have pushed real energy spending well above historical norms, amplifying the effect on families already stretched by housing, food, and child-care costs.

Systemic Indicators: Record Debt And Rising Delinquencies

The household picture is not limited to utilities. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York's Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit shows total U.S. household debt reached £14.1 trillion ($18.59 trillion) in Q3 2025, with credit-card and student-loan delinquencies rising and aggregate delinquency rates remaining elevated. Credit-card balances alone stood at roughly £0.93 trillion ($1.23 trillion), underscoring how many families rely on revolving credit to cover their basic needs.

The combination of rising non-housing debt and growing utility arrears creates a multiplier effect: energy hardship forces households to borrow on cards or miss other payments, worsening credit outcomes.

TCF and Protect Borrowers estimate that nearly 14 million Americans have utility debt severe enough to be in collections; in some Southern and Appalachian counties, the rates are almost double the national average. For households already in the 'deep subprime' segment, with credit scores below 580, average overdue balances are now higher than many more affluent borrowers, signalling a troubling convergence that erodes any financial cushion.

Politics, Policy, And The Human Cost

The TCF analysis explicitly links the debt pattern to policy choices and market structure. It points to state utility regulation, industry consolidation, and rising transmission and infrastructure costs as upstream factors, and argues that federal regulatory moves that slow renewable deployment also matter. The White House has pushed back, arguing local price determination lies with state regulators; the dispute has immediate political significance because affordability topped voters' concerns in recent off-year elections.

Human stories behind the numbers are stark. TCF warns that millions will face shutoffs or long-term collection harms, which translate into skipped meals, depleted savings, and damaged credit profiles. Public health research links factors such as financial stress to worse mental and physical health outcomes; therefore, the policy changes have consequences far beyond balance sheets. The report calls for targeted relief, stronger consumer protections, and renewed oversight of monopoly power in utility markets as immediate remedies.

Julie Margetta Morgan (president of The Century Foundation) and Mike Pierce (Protect Borrowers) are named authors of the analysis and gave the central quotes in the paper and accompanying commentary: 'There's a lot of information out there about rising utility costs, but here we can actually look at what that impact has been on families in terms of how they're falling behind,' wrote TCF's authors. The Century Foundation published the full methodology and dataset appendix online.

The data are unambiguous: rising energy costs have become a measurable driver of household debt, pushing millions into severe arrears and layering new risk onto an already indebted population. Policymakers who frame the issue as a narrowly local problem risk missing the national pattern the evidence now reveals, and millions of families may continue to bear the cost.