Household debt is defined as the amount of money that all adults in the household owe financial institutions. It includes
consumer debt and
mortgage loans. A significant rise in the level of this debt coincides historically with many severe economic crises and was a cause of the
U.S. and subsequent
European economic crises of 2007–2012. Several economists have argued that lowering this debt is essential to economic recovery in the U.S. and selected Eurozone countries.