Debt advice sought by more women than men find charities

20/01/11
News

More women ask for debt advice than men.

Women suffering through debt are more likely to ask for help than men.

Debt advice is sought by more women than men, according to figures revealed by two debt specialist charities.

Both Christians against Poverty (CAP) and the Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) found that a greater number of women had called them for assistance in 2010 than in previous years.

However, men were found to have greater levels of debt than women with more males entering into bankruptcy or looking for official debt repayment agreements over the last ten years.

Just under two thirds of the calls made to the CAP organisation, which has 150 debt counselling centres in the UK, were made by women.

The charity’s chief executive Matt Barlow said: “We do not know whether women are more pragmatic, or that men have that determination to sort things out on their own”.

He continued: “What is clear is that it is awful to live in debt, to be hounded by creditors and feel that life has spun out of control”.

The CCCS also found that more women had been in touch than men even though cases of insolvency were more likely amongst men. The figures revealed that 37,972 men went bankrupt in 2008 compared with 23,173 women.

Couples had the highest average debt of £30,000 followed by single men who had debts of £19,830. Single women were found to owe the least at £16,937.

Consumer spending over the Christmas period was cited as one of the key reasons why debt charities experience a surge of calls from people suffering with unmanageable debt repayments.