This latest report provides insight into the demographic and debt information of new clients who first received debt advice in December 2021.
Our key findings from December 2021:
- StepChange provided full debt advice to almost 10,000 new clients in December. Although this is lower than November, this fall remains consistent with seasonal trends found in previous years
- There are some early indications of the impact of the increased cost of living on those in problem debt. In December, a greater proportion of new clients were behind on their energy bills at the time of advice
- Additionally, experiencing a ‘cost of living increase’ continued to be among the most commonly mentioned reasons for debt
- There was an increase in the proportion of single adults with no children seeking advice. This household composition group accounted for 40% of all new clients in November, however increased to 43% in December
- Credit cards remained the most common unsecured debt type, with 66% of all new clients holding at least one credit card debt at the time of advice
- Council tax continued to be the most common household arrears type
Take a look at the full report to find out more.
This is the latest report in our series detailing data during the pandemic.