An Exploratory Study of Chinese Americans' Debt Ownership

Research concerning the financial well-being of Chinese American households is extremely limited. This article examines factors that affect the probability that Chinese American households will hold debt. Analysis of data from a survey of Chinese Americans in five Midwestern states in the U.S. indicated that 80.5% of the sample households held some type of debt. Factors associated with the probability that a Chinese American household would be a debtor included age, presence of children under 18, health, annual income, and amount of financial and non-financial assets.