Debts

(asked on 6th September 2018) - View Source

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of rising levels of debt among lower income households in recent years; and what plans, if any, they have made to address this issue.


Answered by
Lord Bates Portrait
Lord Bates
This question was answered on 14th September 2018

Household debt as a proportion of income is down significantly from its pre-crisis peak, from 160% in Q1 2008 to 140% in Q1 2018.

The government is working to support those on lower incomes by putting in measures to improve living standards and making it easier to access help with financial matters. The National Living Wage has increased the earnings of the lowest paid full time worker by over £2,000 since 2016, and real household disposable income per person is now 3.4% higher than the start of 2010.

The government is also setting up a new Single Financial Guidance Body, which will provide consumers with a single point of contact for help with all financial matters, and have a statutory responsibility to improve the public’s financial capability.

However, we recognise that, despite this action, some people can fall into problem debt. That is why the government-commissioned Money Advice Service is spending over £56m to provide debt advice to at least 530,000 people this year, and we are introducing a breathing space scheme to provide people with unmanageable debt protection from creditor action so they can seek debt advice and enter into a sustainable debt solution.

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