Posted by Jake on Wednesday, November 27, 2013 with 6 comments | Labels: Article, Big Society, Graphs
In November 2013 The Money Advice Service, set up by the UK government, released a report on the debt burden. The report states:
Across the UK approximately 8.8 million people are
over-indebted. These are individuals who have been at least three months behind
with their bills in the last six months or have said that they feel their debts
are a heavy burden. This large and diverse group
represents 18% of the UK adult population
Most startling is the concentration of debt stress in certain cities and certain regions. In areas more than 4 in 10 people (more than 40% of the local population) are over-indebted.
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| Money Advice Service |
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| Money Advice Service |
It is said that a drowning man will grab at any straw. "Austerity" is the straw our government enthusiastically waves like a cheer-leader's baton because it is not their own voters who are drowning.
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| Money Advice Service |
The areas where people are living beyond their means
ReplyDeleteReally? People are only lower paid in the higher debt areas? nonesense! I'm from Preston (in the red) and live in surrey so know each areas well.
DeleteThe cost of living is far higher in the south east than anywhere else in the UK....and believe me, the higher wages in no way cover the extra living costs.
John Smith: Hi;
ReplyDeleteEvidence?
By definition. QED.
Deletehttps://53b86a9de6dd4673612f-c36ff983a9cc042683f46b699207946d.ssl.cf3.rackcdn.com/indebted-lives-the-complexities-of-life-in-debt-november-2013.pdf
DeleteSir Hector Sants', former boss of the FSA and briefly boss of compliance at Barclays (which he left after a few months due to stress), speech at the launch of Church of England's Church Credit Union Network:
ReplyDelete"Financial distress is one of the principle causes of social detriment. Archbishop Justin has emphasised that helping alleviate financial distress should be central to the Church's mission.
A few statistics to remind us why:
the debt of the average UK household, excluding mortgages, is now almost £13,000
7 million people are using high cost credit providers
1m payday loans are taken out each month
1.4 m people have no bank account
These statistics are in themselves justification for action, but for me, even more concerning is encountering the impact of financial distress at the personal level.
Over the last few months I have met many individuals who are in financial distress and such encounters have brought home to me the extent of the personal suffering that results. Christians Against Poverty, the well-known debt advice charity, has shared with me the following statistics about their debt advice clients:
36% have contemplated or attempted suicide.
67% visited their GP due to the negative effects of debt.
76% said that their financial situation had adversely affected their primary relationship.
23% said their relationship had broken down entirely.
42% were prescribed medication due to the negative effects of debt.
These statistics alone demonstrate that tackling these issues would impact every aspect of life, which is why, in my view; the church should get involved with passion and commitment."
http://www.churchofengland.org/media-centre/news/2014/05/sir-hector-sants-speech-at-launch-of-church-credit-union-network.aspx