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Subtitle: How Social Mentorship Brings People to Financial Autonomy
Debt has always been part of life. In recent years the issue of over-indebted households has reached a historical level with debt becoming an integral part of life, stimulated and presented as normal. However, the current crisis has proven the vulnerability and fallacy of the debt culture. Debt has downgraded a large group of the middle class toward the lower class. It is the middle class who is the engine of the economy — more than big corporations.
Debt has always been part of life. In recent years the issue of over-indebted households has reached a historical level with debt becoming an integral part of life, stimulated and presented as normal. However, the current crisis has proven the vulnerability and fallacy of the debt culture. Debt has downgraded a large group of the middle class toward the lower class. It is the middle class who is the engine of the economy — more than big corporations. Once the economic motor fails to convert energy into economic and social power, society comes to a standstill. Subsequently it will take more time and energy to regain the economical pace from that standstill situation. Preventing a total economic standstill by actively and proactively dealing with debt is not only logical, but also urgent. This raises the question, “what happens if nothing changes?” The answer is quite simple: there will be more socially passive citizens and the balance of people socially contributing and people unable to contribute will become disturbed. This will lead to social polarization that can easily end up in political exploitation and ultimately to exclusion. Dealing with debt, actively and proactively, indirectly contributes to social peace. There certainly are other pieces of the puzzle that contribute to social peace, though debt is definitely of significant importance. As long as there is a financial drainage due to debt, all invested energy and funds will never convert into a satisfactory return on investment. This report consists of two distinct parts. Firstly, the document backs up a number of causes of debt with recent data, gathered by experts on the topic in the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, Belgium, Finland, Spain, Hungary and Slovakia
