1 in 10 Unemployed Denied Jobs Due to Credit Checks

Employer credit checks are preventing the nation's hardest hit job seekers from entering the workforce, a new study shows.

One in four unemployed Americans have been required to go through a credit check when applying for a job, and one in ten have been denied jobs due to information in their credit report, according to a survey by liberal think-tank Demos of about 1,000 low- and middle-income households with credit card debt.

"Employer credit checks are common and they're keeping people from getting jobs," said Amy Traub, Demos senior policy analyst and author of the report.

While people tend to think credit checks are only conducted for senior level positions, the study found they are often used for entry-level, low-paying positions as well -- even for jobs like delivery drivers and frozen yogurt servers.

Bad credit is often a result of unemployment and the loss of health insurance, which makes it difficult for people to keep up with the bills, Demos found. Another common cause of poor credit is medical debt, which only gets harder to manage when compounded by unemployment. Read more >>