STOP THE SHAME and Tackle the UK’s Spiralling Debt Problem Head On

Vicky Parry 18th Jan 2024 No Comments

Reading Time: 3 minutes

We are partnering with Debt Charity CMA to help tackle the shame around debt.

Recent research shows that the average household debt in the UK is £65,724 and a sizeable £2,409 of that is on credit cards.

Now, considering the fact that 64% of people in the UK have at least one credit card and over 65% of them have debt of over £1,000 on them, it is safe to say that nearly every household in the UK has some sort of debt. So why is it still such a taboo subject?

Jasmine Birtles, founder of MoneyMagpie.com, wants to remove the shame and stigma of debt for 2024.

Jasmine and the MoneyMapie team are putting themselves at the forefront of a campaign to change the conversation around money and by doing so hope to remove some of the stigma and help people realise that it is ok to talk about money problems.

Debt charity support

Partnering with Debt Charity Community Money Advice (CMA), MoneyMagpie is launching the “Stop the Shame” Campaign in an attempt to get people talking about money and to help with the country’s debt crisis.

According to CMA “shame and guilt” are some of the top reasons people let their debts escalate. They have found time and again that if a debt problem had been faced sooner, and help sought earlier, then the spiralling debts could have been avoided.

John Franks of CMA says “When clients approach CMA advice centres for help, all are afraid of the consequences of debt, and many are struggling with the shame of being indebted. It is often that sense of shame that prevents them seeking help at the first signs of financial trouble; instead waiting until they are in crisis. Seeking help early avoids having to face the worst of the stress and fear which indebtedness brings with it; and it’s also easier to overcome the financial problems. For these reasons CMA would always advise anyone struggling with money problems to seek help early.”

So we are hoping to nip this crisis of spiralling debt burdens in the bud and to start a conversation around Money.

The thin end of the wedge

As anyone who has been in debt knows, what starts as a small credit card arrears, can soon escalate into debts that have ballooned into a scary monster that just keeps on growing.

MoneyMagpie’s Jasmine Birtles says that with interest rates as high as they are, combined with the increasing cost of living and job insecurity, we are in a ‘perfect storm’ for consumers who have found their borrowing getting out of control. “It used to be that people would get into serious debt because of overspending and, often, a life shock that knocked them off their perch for a bit,” she says. “But now I’m hearing of working couples, with two incomes, who are finding themselves in awful debt because costs have risen, their wages haven’t and, increasingly, their mortgage payments have become unsupportable. For many people now their essential outgoings are not covered by their incomings.”

Martin Bethell of CMA adds that “one in eight homes in the UK is affected by spiralling debt, which often leads to: relationship breakdown; loss of home; loss of job; addiction; mental health issues and so on. Being in debt provokes the feelings of fear; shame; guilt; secrecy; helplessness; depression; even suicide and all these can be factors that stop people getting help with their debt problem. Debt knows no boundaries – age, race, gender, circumstances – it can hit anyone and everyone at any time. At CMA we encourage people to come and talk to us about their debts so that we can assist them to find Freedom from debt and find a Hope for the Future.”

Hear what the expert debt advisors on the ground are saying…

To get involved with this very important campaign use the hashtag STOPTHESHAME and contact MoneyMagpie to put you or your organisation forward as a partner.