Debt and the terrible price families pay

EVERYONE wants the best for themselves and their family. All the more so at Christmas. So, if Christmas is increasingly for sale, as it seems to be in our consumer-driven society, then we had better do our best to buy it - whatever the cost.

And that's the problem - because come the New Year there is a price to pay, and for many it's a price that they can't really afford.

Debt is part of the the dark side of Christmas - and it is a growing but largely unspoken problem.

The amazing boom in consumer credit of all kinds invites some of the most vulnerable in our society to plunge further into debt - and this is the worst possible news for families. The seasonal spending frenzy pushes many to go short of essentials to help pay for presents; and it encourages them to plug the remaining gap with yet more borrowing.

It's a generous impulse - but the fact that needs pondering is that a shocking 70% of marriage breakdowns are estimated to be attributable at least in part to money difficulties and, above all, to debt.

The credit explosion has made life a lot easier in all sorts of good ways, but it is in danger of slipping out of control unless we have some better regulation and some new attitudes.

The Government recently announced plans for an overhaul of consumer credit rules. The plans are fine as far as they go (and more are promised) but they miss some of the underlying threats - especially to the family.

The pressure is relentlessly on us to incur debt - not least among younger people in education, the majority of whom have no choice about it - so we need better guidelines to steer people towards the sort of good financial management that will safeguard the family's stability.

The kind of guidelines that will also train younger people in a sense of financial responsibility for the time when they have children of their own to raise.

If we don't give some more attention to this, we are hammering one more nail into the coffin of the stable family in this country.

The problems surrounding debt are unlikely to be eased by the Government's current plans for new laws on the gambling 'industry' - a bizarre use of language if ever I saw one.

The Methodists, with backing from other churches, have already made a strong and substantial response to the Government's draft bill. The submission flags up a range of concerns - about developing adequate regulation of children's access to gambling, about the prospect of mega-casinos with unlimited numbers of machines, and about very limited consideration of the overall impact on areas where gambling is a major draw.

Gambling culture dangers

WE NEED to be clear on this wider dimension of social responsibility and especially on the need for young people to be adequately warned against the dangers of a gambling culture, as well as the problems of taking too much easily available credit.

But what can we do meanwhile on the dangers of debt, apart from keeping up public pressure? There are two things.

First, in many vulnerable communities it can seem as though there are no alternatives to loan sharks with soaring rates of interest (and sometimes unorthodox means of collection). This is not so. Credit Unions offer a realistic option that will offer people manageable credit terms and help train them in keeping on top of their problems.

In some areas they work also to develop habits of saving. They depend on volunteers - when I lived in Wales, the local churches took an active interest in this and were able to supply a pool of willing helpers. Any community can set up such a scheme if it can raise enough people to sign up to the very small initial contribution.

Experience testifies that it saves marriages as well as money.

Second, people in financial trouble find it hard to share the difficulties, particularly when problems about emotions and relationships are involved as well. So confidential helplines are crucial - and they need volunteers as well.

Early in December a new package of assistance programmes - website, helpline, leaflets - was launched with support from all the political parties under the name of Parents, Pennies and Pounds.

Secrecy and shame

THE AIM is to help families talk to each other about debt and financial pressure. Break through the culture of secrecy and shame, and it's half the battle.

So there may be some rather different sorts of Christmas presents we can give if we've got the time and energy and resources to get involved in one of these projects.

It doesn't take a lot - but it's one of the most effective areas in which to show good neighbourliness.

Despite all the attacks on family structures in the culture at large, nobody has yet come up with a convincing alternative to stable parenting as the setting in which human beings learn maturity and security.

But it isn't enough to talk abstractly about 'family values' as a sacred cow. Those values are tough things, requiring tough decisions and patient labour. And we all need to be clear about exactly where the heaviest pressures are.

We need to look out for the not-so-obvious places where they arise. And we need to be ready to offer down-to-earth assistance, practical responses both from statutory resources and from our own voluntary commitments.

We think about the Holy Family at Christmas, the sign of the absolute security of God's love. But Christmas should turn our thoughts also to other families who at this time of year may be feeling pressured and uncertain about how to find help in a world where spending is supposed to solve problems.

Can we find a bit of room in the inn for them?

This Is Money will launch a get-out-of debt special on 31 December. Don't miss it.