A Review of Research on Household Debt Risk: Measurement, Causes, and Impact

ABSTRACT Household debt risk has become a key issue affecting financial stability. This paper presents a systematic review of 161 important publications on household debt risk from 2000 to 2025, covering measurement methods, data and models, risk causes, consequences, and control policies. We find that the authors studying household debt risk mainly come from China and the United States, and the research topics are strongly related to macro policies. Second, household debt risk data cover major countries and international institutions around the world, and the debt‐to‐income ratio is the main indicator for measuring household debt risk. Third, the causes of household debt risk involve multiple driving mechanisms, such as income inequality, rising house prices, financial liberalization, population aging, and the development of digital finance. Fourth, the consequences of household debt risk have multidimensional diffusibility. At the micro level, household debt risk suppresses consumption and damages physical and mental health and family relationships. At the macro level, it amplifies economic fluctuations and exacerbates income inequality. Fifth, the existing research is marked by insufficient data coverage, ambiguous causal mechanisms, and limited policy universality. Future research should therefore deepen the exploration of the topic through interdisciplinary integration.