ABSTRACT

The Great Recession was the period between 2007 and 2009 when the housing bubble burst, causing employment, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and the stock market to plummet for the longest period of time since World War II in the l930s. The Great Recession was a global economic downturn that devastated world financial markets and the banking and real estate industries. The banking crisis was extremely difficult for the average American to comprehend. The dramatic drop in the price of homes was due primarily to how mortgages were sold and financed. A home provides not only shelter, but a repository for wealth, access to credit, education, and many other household and community advantages. Foreclosed homeowners had to deal with low credit scores that would take many years to rebound from. The Great Recession is unique in that it was brought about by a dramatic housing crisis, thus, triggering a severe labor-market crisis resulting in changes in attitudes, behaviors, and institutions.