Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
New research has highlighted the precarious lives of those on chronic low incomes with predictions showing further hardship from the coronavirus pandemic.
Debt charity Christians Against Poverty (CAP) new report ‘Is Anyone Listening?’ reflects on the statistics for 2019 showing that many walk a financial knife-edge with no safety net from income shocks or unexpected costs.
Chief Executive Paula Stringer of CAP said “This year, the debt landscape grew even bleaker. We are seeing more and more families unable to afford their basic living needs and experiencing high levels of destitution. In the months and years to come, we are deeply concerned that this situation will be worsened by the effects of the pandemic. Our findings show that too many people on low incomes, often dealing with multiple other struggles, were already locked in poverty.”
One in ten of CAP’s clients report they were living without a bed or mattress, one in ten were skipping meals daily and 61 per cent had turned to credit to pay for food shopping.
Persistent low income remains the number one reason for people needing help with unmanageable debt.
The average annual income for households being helped by CAP, after rent or mortgage costs, was £12,579. This puts around half below the poverty line, eight in ten with an income lower than the national average.
Priority debts, that is essential household bills, were up £466 per person on 2018’s previous high and the most common priority debt was Council Tax.
The stress of poverty affects all aspects of life with a fifth saying it caused relationship breakdown and four in ten saying their children had been negatively impacted by debt.
In 2019, CAP helped 22,778 people thanks to the work of their head office, hundreds of partner churches and an army of more than 3,000 volunteers looking after people across the UK.