--- description: Student loans led a rebound in household borrowing last quarter, according to new figures from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York title: This Mind-Blowing Debt Graphic Will Probably Make You Sad image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # This Mind-Blowing Debt Graphic Will Probably Make You Sad  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 14, 2014 4:15 PM CUT  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 14, 2014 4:15 PM CUT Recession-scared households have learned to stop worrying and love the loan. According to [new figures](http://www.newyorkfed.org/householdcredit/2014-q1/data/pdf/HHDC%5F2014Q1.pdf "undefined") from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, household debt climbed $129 billion in the first quarter of 2014 to $11.65 trillion, marking the third consecutive quarterly increase since the recession. This chart offers a pretty glaring hint as to what form of borrowing is leading the rebound:  Student loans have more than quadrupled in value since 2003, racking up another $31 billion in loans last quarter. Housing loans also increased by $116 billion thanks to lower rates of foreclosures. But the new figures also suggest a lingering sense of unease with heavy borrowing (student loans notwithstanding). Credit-card balances dropped $24 billion last quarter and new originations of mortgages fell for a third quarter straight. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/99142/this-mind-blowing-debt-graphic-will-probably-make-you-sad/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/99142/this-mind-blowing-debt-graphic-will-probably-make-you-sad/"},"headline":"This Mind-Blowing Debt Graphic Will Probably Make You Sad","datePublished":"2014-05-14T16:15:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:08:23.859Z","description":"Student loans led a rebound in household borrowing last quarter, according to new figures from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York","url":"https://time.com/99142/this-mind-blowing-debt-graphic-will-probably-make-you-sad/","keywords":["Education","Debt","Student Loans","Borrowing"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Kedmey","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/99142/this-mind-blowing-debt-graphic-will-probably-make-you-sad/","name":"This Mind-Blowing Debt Graphic Will Probably Make You Sad"}}]}] ```