Household debt crisis grows as 3 million expect to be pushed into debt

New polling commissioned by the anti-poverty group Jubilee Debt Campaign has revealed that three million people fear they will be pushed into debt over the next six months. 

This week’s rises in National Insurance contributions as well as the increase in the energy price cap and council tax are set to push even more people into debt just to cover the basics. Almost half of adults in Britain, 25 million, are now in debt or concerned about falling into debt, as incomes stagnate and living costs rise. 

The polling shows the devastating impact of debt on people on low incomes, with over a third of those people heavily in debt and spending at least 40% of their monthly incomes on repayments. 

People of Black and minority ethnic backgrounds are almost twice as likely to be in serious debt as white people. 

Heidi Chow, Executive Director of Jubilee Debt Campaign, said “As struggling households choose between starving or freezing in the face of soaring costs, it’s scandalous though no surprise that there is a tsunami of debt on the horizon for half the adult population of Britain. ”

The debt-poverty cycle is a downward spiral and the government needs to take urgent action to address this debt crisis by writing-down large amounts of problem debt and widening access to insolvency solutions.”