Anna B Posted August 31, 2018 Share Posted August 31, 2018 Interesting (and disturbing) programme on TV last night about household debt. ('Tonight' 7.30 ITV) This was not about people spending money on things they could do without like holidays and luxuries, but being in debt with everyday household bills. £19 Billion owed on basic utilities, mortgage/rent arrears, essential bills; average £58,000 debt per household; every household spending £900 more than it earns. 8,000,000 households struggling to cover basic costs. The 'just about managing' are no longer are managing at all, they are sinking fast, and this group is engulfing more and more people. Food bank use growing, and many of these are the working poor. Employment might be up according to the government, but for many, working does not end poverty, it exacerbates it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidley Posted August 31, 2018 Share Posted August 31, 2018 Interesting (and disturbing) programme on TV last night about household debt. ('Tonight' 7.30 ITV) This was not about people spending money on things they could do without like holidays and luxuries, but being in debt with everyday household bills. £19 Billion owed on basic utilities, mortgage/rent arrears, essential bills; average £58,000 debt per household; every household spending £900 more than it earns. 8,000,000 households struggling to cover basic costs. The 'just about managing' are no longer are managing at all, they are sinking fast, and this group is engulfing more and more people. Food bank use growing, and many of these are the working poor. Employment might be up according to the government, but for many, working does not end poverty, it exacerbates it. Anna I think the £58,000 debt per household;needs clarifying, it could very easily be misunderstood by readers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna B Posted August 31, 2018 Author Share Posted August 31, 2018 Anna I think the £58,000 debt per household;needs clarifying, it could very easily be misunderstood by readers. I assume it's an average of the debt owed shared out by households. You'd have to watch the programme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidley Posted August 31, 2018 Share Posted August 31, 2018 I assume it's an average of the debt owed shared out by households. You'd have to watch the programme. I did watch the program last night, The £58,000 household debt is, including all mortgages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willman Posted August 31, 2018 Share Posted August 31, 2018 Every month i'm in debt to the utilities companies as are many people if they pay by direct debit. A case can be made for most scenarios, all mortgage holders are in debt. Every year i'm in arrears with my council tax - i haven't paid it on time since they changed it from the poll tax. In comparison to those in real debt mine are trivial nothings but they will probably be included in the debts owed to councils and utilities companies when researchers ask. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Cid Posted August 31, 2018 Share Posted August 31, 2018 I did watch the program last night, The £58,000 household debt is, including all mortgages. This time last year I rented my house, now I am in debt with a mortgage; a TV program can make peoples debt seem worse when included in the figures. I believe people do have a debt problem, we need to increase interest rates. The UK population has the 2nd worst debt according to Wikipedia, not sure how true that is. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_external_debt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truman Posted August 31, 2018 Share Posted August 31, 2018 This time last year I rented my house, now I am in debt with a mortgage; a TV program can make peoples debt seem worse when included in the figures. I believe people do have a debt problem, we need to increase interest rates. The UK population has the 2nd worst debt according to Wikipedia, not sure how true that is. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_external_debt If debt is a problem for some now how will increased interest rates help? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Cid Posted August 31, 2018 Share Posted August 31, 2018 If debt is a problem for some now how will increased interest rates help? Low-interest rates have encouraged people that debt is a good idea. I am sure regulation is important too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geared Posted August 31, 2018 Share Posted August 31, 2018 and if you suddenly raise them alot you'll push many of those people into crisis. Unfortunately if you want to effect change without causing grief it has to be done slowly, after all the UK interest rate has just started increasing again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obelix Posted August 31, 2018 Share Posted August 31, 2018 Interesting (and disturbing) programme on TV last night about household debt. ('Tonight' 7.30 ITV) This was not about people spending money on things they could do without like holidays and luxuries, but being in debt with everyday household bills. £19 Billion owed on basic utilities, mortgage/rent arrears, essential bills; average £58,000 debt per household; every household spending £900 more than it earns. 8,000,000 households struggling to cover basic costs. The 'just about managing' are no longer are managing at all, they are sinking fast, and this group is engulfing more and more people. Food bank use growing, and many of these are the working poor. Employment might be up according to the government, but for many, working does not end poverty, it exacerbates it. Whats the debt figure when you strip out mortgages from it...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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