Exploring attitudes towards debt policies supporting people who are struggling with debt burden in Britian – March 2024
12th March 2024
Walnut Unlimited
Exploring attitudes towards debt policies supporting people who are struggling with debt burden in Britain– March 2024
Walnut’s Public Affairs Team ran a poll investigating the incidence of people struggling with debt in Britain today and explored attitudes towards debt policies, feeding into Debt Justice’s campaign, ‘Together Against Debt Manifesto’, ahead of an upcoming election in 2024.
Research indicated that 6.7 million people in Britain are now in financial difficulty; 13% of people have missed three or more credit or bill payments over the past six months and 16% report their debt bringing a heavy burden. Almost a quarter (23%) reported to have experienced either missing payments or debt bringing a heavy burden.
More than eight in ten (83%) agreed that the government should ensure everyone pushed into unmanageable debt can access fair debt solutions to reset their finances and rebuild their lives. A slightly higher proportion (85%) agreed that the government should ensure free, impartial, high quality debt advice is available in every community. Just over three quarters (77%) agreed that the UK government should ensure everyone can meet essential costs such as food energy and housing without being pushed into debt.
Almost half (49%) said it would make them more likely to support a political party committed to this policy. This was higher in those who intend to vote Lib Dem (65%) or Labour (64%) versus Conservative (42%) in the next election.
Research conducted 23rd – 26th February 2024. Nationally representative online poll of 2,001 adults (aged 18+) in Britain. Data were weighted to be representative by age, gender, region and socio-economic grade.
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