Women more likely to seek debt advice
The Government-funded money advice and budget service MABS said women make up two-thirds of the people coming to them for support.
It is launching a report today with the Women’s Health Council (WHC), which shows that women are more likely to suffer mental and physical illness as a result of debt than their male counterparts.
The study — Women, Health and Debt — shows eight out of 10 women who come to MABS for help suffer from a physical or mental illness that is either a cause or result of their poor debt.
The report shows that almost half (48%) of women suffering poverty as a result of debt, were parenting alone, with financially dependant children.
More than a quarter (29%) of the women seeking help were separated, while a further 30% were single, 5% were divorced and 3% were widowed.
Just a fifth of those seeking help were married.
Gwen Harris, from MABS, said there are two main reasons why women are more likely to seek help for financial difficulties.
“We have a very high proportion of single-parent families.
“Relationship breakdown would be a new cause for debt, particularly for women who get custody of the children and remain the carer, and are therefore financially affected more than men.
“But in the cases of two-parent households, it is often females who make the first contact with us because it tends to be women who would take the role of being in control of the family finance,” she said.
Arrears in household bills were the cause of debt for a third of women, while a quarter had problems paying the rent or mortgage.
A fifth had difficulty paying back bank loans while just 5% had built up credit card bills.
Eight out of 10 women voluntarily raised the issue of poor health during consultations with the money advice and budget service.
Two thirds of all women said they suffered stress, more than a third (38%) said they suffered depression, a fifth (19%) suffered insomnia, 8% suffered panic attacks and 3% had problems with alcohol misuse.
The report said: “The fact that so many women attending MABS for advice were responsible for financially dependant children may go some way to explaining the high levels of poor mental health reported in the study.”
A WHC spokeswoman agreed that children might be an important factor.
“Women are more likely to forego their own health in favour of their children’s, and would be likely to spend the money on their child rather than going to the doctor themselves,” she said.
Half of the women mentioned physical health problems, including respiratory and heart problems and high blood pressure.
Despite their low income levels, 12% of women did not have a medical or GP visit card and 10% of social welfare recipients had neither card.
The report recommended that the Government examine the uptake of medical cards and educate women, particularly those with literacy problems, about their entitlements.
The report called for policies to support those on lower incomes and increase employment opportunities, particularly for single mothers and those with disabilities.
It also said that the Government should investigate the uptake of medical cards.
