Here&39;s a scary statistic courtesy of LendingTree: 48% of Americans are uncomfortable with their total amount of household debt.  And 50% of Americans are either concerned or extremely concerned about the amount of credit card debt they have.

Think about that for a minute. Every other adult in the US is seriously worried about their debts. That is an incredible amount of people. The person sitting next to you right now, your co-worker, your friend...that&39;s a national debt issue of epidemic proportions.

And it appears that young families (19-34 with children) are the worst off.  68% of young families are uncomfortable with their debt. 59% spend more than half of their income on debt. 59% don&39;t have any emergency savings. 29% have more than $10,000 in credit card debt.

That&39;s a bleak picture. And it&39;s not surprising that American families are being stretched thin financially. Employee wages haven&39;t kept pace with inflation. Home prices have experienced double-digit increases. Health care spending is growing at the fastest rate in our history.  The availability of easy credit and low interest rates has meant that many consumers turned to debt as a way to manage their daily financial struggles.

What is the solution?  It&39;s tempting to mention that Saturday Night Live skit called "Don&39;t Buy Stuff You Can&39;t Afford." But a house and medical bills are hardly unnecessary expenses. Although there are probably a lot of people who have debt problems due to just living beyond their means, there are also a significant portion who are simply trying to get by. I think that any real debt solution would have to address both sides of the spending story.

The mortgage industry implosion will probably have a big impact on American debt as well. We&39;re going to see fewer and few "non-traditional" loans going to consumers who maybe couldn&39;t afford them in the first place. And if credit card reforms are ever passed by Congress, that could have an impact too. 

What do you think is the solution to America&39;s debt problems? Share your feedback in the comments section below.