Wage Garnishment in the United States: New Facts from Administrative Payroll Records

Anthony DeFusco, Brandon Enriquez and Maggie Yellen

American Economic Review: Insights, 2024, vol. 6, issue 1, 38-54

Abstract: Wage garnishment allows creditors to deduct money from workers' paychecks to repay defaulted debts. We document new facts about wage garnishment between 2014 and 2019 using data from a large payroll processor that distributes paychecks to approximately 20 percent of US private-sector workers. By 2019, over 1 in every 100 workers was being garnished for delinquent debt. The average garnished worker experiences garnishment for five months, during which approximately 11 percent of gross earnings is remitted to their creditor(s). The beginning of a garnishment is associated with an increase in job turnover but no intensive margin change in hours worked.

JEL-codes: G51 J22 J63 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Working Paper: Wage Garnishment in the United States: New Facts from Administrative Payroll Records (2022)
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DOI: 10.1257/aeri.20220487

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