July 2022 Debtfree Issue
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Perhaps unsurprisingly, financial stress was most acute amongst the<br />
younger respondents and those with less income. However, 40% of<br />
all respondents were spending over half their take home pay to repay<br />
debt.<br />
“More alarmingly, 72% of all respondents<br />
need 30% or more of their take home pay to<br />
repay debt. If one considers that DebtBusters<br />
deems 30% of take-home pay to be the level<br />
at which debt repayments can be managed<br />
sustainably, one can conclude that 72% are<br />
in an unsustainable debt position.“<br />
“This is simply untenable so it’s not surprising that stress levels are so<br />
high,” says Nxawe.<br />
One in six people believed that they had less debt than their peers,<br />
while five in six believed they had the same or more debt. Under 25s<br />
generally believed that others had more debt than they did.<br />
Reactions to dealing with financial stress ranged from cutting back<br />
on monthly expenditure to selling personal items, with most people<br />
(43%) opting to tighten their belts.<br />
Twenty six percent looked to increase their income by finding a better<br />
job. Unsurprisingly younger people were more likely to seek higherpaying<br />
jobs. However, one in six (14%) said they felt stuck and didn’t<br />
know what to do.