Great Recession facts for kids

The Great Recession (also called the Second Great Depression or Long Recession) was a global economic decline in the late 2000s to early 2010s decade. The effects of the economic problem are still obvious. A few countries, including Italy and Greece, are still in recession.

The Great Recession affected world economies to different degrees. It caused more problems for some countries than others. Overall, this was the worst global recession since World War II. The United States began the recession right after Southern Europe was badly affected. Some countries, including China, India, South Korea, Poland and Australia, did not have a recession during this time.

Economic side-effects include household debt, low wages, high levels of unemployment and very limited chances of global growth as of 2014 in many countries.

Images for kids

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  A bank run at a branch of the Northern Rock bank in Brighton, England, on September 14, 2007, amid speculation of problems, prior to its 2008 nationalisation.

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  U.S. residential and non-residential investment fell relative to GDP during the crisis

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  U.S. households and financial businesses significantly increased borrowing (leverage) in the years leading up to the crisis

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  US household debt relative to disposable income and GDP.

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  U.S. Changes in Household Debt as a percentage of GDP for 1989–2016. Homeowners paying down debt for 2009–2012 was a headwind to the recovery. Economist Carmen Reinhart explained that this behavior tends to slow recoveries from financial crises relative to typical recessions.

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  Housing price appreciation in selected countries, 2002–2008

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  Securitization markets were impaired during the crisis.

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  Several major U.S. economic variables had recovered from the 2007–2009 Subprime mortgage crisis and Great Recession by the 2013–2014 time period.

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  U.S. Real GDP – Contributions to Percent Change by Component 2007–2009

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  Public Debt to GDP Ratio for Selected European Countries – 2008 to 2011. Source Data: Eurostat

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  Relationship between fiscal tightening (austerity) in Eurozone countries with their GDP growth rate, 2008–2012

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  Slovenian anarchist anti-fascist protest due to the great recession.

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  Sydney's financial district at night. Throughout the Great Recession, the Australian economy remained resilient and stable.

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  Federal Reserve Holdings of Treasury and Mortgage-Backed Securities

See also

In Spanish: Gran Recesión para niños