Debt survey - A worrying indictment

Any lingering doubts about the appalling scale of debt now crippling families in this benighted country are utterly dispelled by today’s terrifying report on their plight.

There could hardly be a more revealing or depressing picture than the latest survey from the excellent Mabs — the Money Advice and Budgeting Service — which puts the majority of 6,000 people questioned between 41 and 65 years old, belying the view that couples in their 30s are mainly in distress.

Behind the cold statistics of debt, primarily to mainstream lenders, and the ruinous unemployment levels revealed by this report for the Department of Social Protection, is the human toll on families — marital breakdown, health problems, unemployment, business failure, and addiction issues.