federal reserve's periodic survey of consumer finances ( scf ) suggest that a higher level of education significantly increases the chances that a household will use an electronic banking product. in particular, in 1998, the typical user of an electronic source of information for savings or borrowing decisions had a college degree - a level of education currently achieved by only about one - third of u. s. households. the most recent data from the survey reveal a good news - bad news picture of the financial status of households, providing evidence that we need to reach further to engage those who have not been able to participate fully. for example, while the median real net worth for all families increased 17 - 1 / 2 percent between 1995 and 1998, this trend did not hold true where the head of the household had a high - school level of education or less, family earnings were less than $ 25, 000 annually, or the ethnicity of the respondent was non - white or hispanic. that families with low - to - moderate incomes and minorities did not appear to fully benefit from the highly favorable economic developments of the mid - 1990s is, of course, troubling, and the survey results warrant a closer look. in the details, we find that families with incomes below $ 25, 000 did increase their direct or indirect holdings of stock, and more reported that they had a transactions account. however, they were less likely to hold nonfinancial assets - particularly homes, which constitute the bulk of the value of assets for those below the top quintile according to income. at the same time, one encouraging finding from surveys conducted by the bureau of the census is the increasing homeownership rates for minorities. for example, the homeownership rate for blacks increased from 42. 9 percent in 1995 to 48. 6 percent through the second quarter of 2001. the homeownership rate for hispanics also rose, from 42. 0 percent in 1995 to 46. 1 percent through the second quarter of 2001. this trend may be a sign of improved access to credit for minorities. other recent findings of the scf include a rise in families'median level of debt burden, financial stress ( defined as debt payments that represent more than 40 percent of income ), and incidence of late payments on debt. the findings showed increases in each of these categories across all income and age groups, with the highest levels of financial stress among households headed by people 65 and older and earning less than $ 25, 000 annually.

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