Abstract

The purpose of this report is to examine the debt situation of our clients in terms of identifying their main creditors, the different types of debt and the change in debt characteristics across a period of 3 years. The data analysis has produced several highly salient findings pertaining to the debt situation of socially vulnerable groups. These findings have far-reaching implications for how debt issues should be approached politically, both in terms of solving existing challenges as well as preventing the emergence of future problems. First and foremost, the analysis shows clear evidence of sky-rocketing debt among our clients, with the total debt amount increasing by 120 million in just one year. This increase can largely be attributed to public debt, especially debt to the Danish tax authorities and the Police. Bearing in mind that public debt already makes up 70% of the total debt amount, only further exacerbates the magnitude of this trend. Another remarkable finding in this report is that a vast majority of payday loans are issued by banks and companies with a banking license, and not by companies who lack such a license. This is noteworthy, because both political and media attention has been mostly directed at the latter, when it comes to ethical questions surrounding payday loans. We argue for the need of a more holistic approach to the questions regarding debt, to ensure that overindebted people receive the help they require when coping with debt problems – all while taking into account different types of debt, and debt from different creditors.

Read the full report Here.