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Men ‘more likely to be declared insolvent’
We explain how men and women’s spending habits can land them with different debt problems.
Spohn Matthieu - Getty
More men are declared insolvent each year even though a higher number of women seek out debt advice, new research has found.
Insolvency statistics from the Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) reveal that men made up 55.4% of all people it recommended for Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVA) in 2009, while 51.4% of bankruptcy recommendations were also for men.
This is despite the fact that we help more men than women with debt problems each year.
Similarly, figures from the government's Insolvency Service show that, from 2000 to 2008, men have always taken out IVAs and petitioned for bankruptcy more often than women.
In 2008 - the most recent year that figures are available by gender - 23,173 women went bankrupt compared to 37,972 men, while 17,300 women took out an IVA as opposed to 21,318 men.
So is this evidence of a wider gender divide when it comes to debt?
Get free debt advice from charity the CCCS
Uses of credit
Certainly, there are a number of differences in the way men and women use credit.
The most significant is with credit cards, where men owe on average around £4,000 more than women.
The smallest difference is in catalogue debt and doorstep lending, or home credit debt. These are also the areas where women are more likely than men to have debts, even if these debts are smaller. In both cases, women account for almost two thirds of clients.
Overall, men tend to have higher levels of debt: men who contact the CCCS owe on average £18,414, compared to £15,876 for women.
We at CCCS predict a steep rise in demand for our services over the next year as a result of growing pressures that include welfare cuts and public sector redundancies.
Organisations like the TUC believe the impact of these changes will disproportionately fall on women, but what impact this will have on the debt gender divide remains to be seen.
Men ‘more likely to be declared insolvent’ - Â*Debt | MSN Money UK
We explain how men and women’s spending habits can land them with different debt problems.
Spohn Matthieu - Getty
More men are declared insolvent each year even though a higher number of women seek out debt advice, new research has found.
Insolvency statistics from the Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) reveal that men made up 55.4% of all people it recommended for Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVA) in 2009, while 51.4% of bankruptcy recommendations were also for men.
This is despite the fact that we help more men than women with debt problems each year.
Similarly, figures from the government's Insolvency Service show that, from 2000 to 2008, men have always taken out IVAs and petitioned for bankruptcy more often than women.
In 2008 - the most recent year that figures are available by gender - 23,173 women went bankrupt compared to 37,972 men, while 17,300 women took out an IVA as opposed to 21,318 men.
So is this evidence of a wider gender divide when it comes to debt?
Get free debt advice from charity the CCCS
Uses of credit
Certainly, there are a number of differences in the way men and women use credit.
The most significant is with credit cards, where men owe on average around £4,000 more than women.
The smallest difference is in catalogue debt and doorstep lending, or home credit debt. These are also the areas where women are more likely than men to have debts, even if these debts are smaller. In both cases, women account for almost two thirds of clients.
Overall, men tend to have higher levels of debt: men who contact the CCCS owe on average £18,414, compared to £15,876 for women.
We at CCCS predict a steep rise in demand for our services over the next year as a result of growing pressures that include welfare cuts and public sector redundancies.
Organisations like the TUC believe the impact of these changes will disproportionately fall on women, but what impact this will have on the debt gender divide remains to be seen.
Men ‘more likely to be declared insolvent’ - Â*Debt | MSN Money UK
