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charities have long acknowledged that more
XXXX women than men use their services. Women also
tend to seek that advice early, before a cash crisis spirals out of
control. So what’s preventing men getting the debt advice they
need? How can debt charities break down these ‘barriers’ and
encourage more men to come forward and deal with their debts?
A leading financial charity commissioned Dr Jackie Goode and her
team at Loughborough’s Centre for Research in Social Policy, to
explore the sociological and psychological factors affecting men
and debt. Dr Goode spoke with Alison Laing about the findings.
The UK’s economic woes are well
documented. Financial experts say we are in
recession with little sign of recovery anytime
soon. As a consequence, household debt
is on the rise. While debt charities report a
slight increase in the number of enquiries
from men, this trend is against an underlying
background of gender imbalance. Typically,
it is still the case that women are the most
likely to seek help with their debts, while
men need more of a ‘push’.
Dr Goode conducted research into these
behaviours on behalf of the Money Advice
Trust. It was a project she and her team took
on with relish.
Dr Goode said: “There is a whole body of
scholarship out there on what happens
to money in households. That research
has mainly focused on women, for very
good reason. In low income households in
particular, it tends to be women who manage
the household budget on a day-to-day basis.
Female partners are also more willing to
come forward and discuss their money
problems than men.
“But what made this research project
so exciting, and quite unique, was that it
provided a rare opportunity to hear men’s
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voices on the subject of debt. What did they
see as their role in managing household
finances? And just how did their overindebtedness
occur?”
The £20,000, small-scale, exploratory study
took three months to complete. The male
volunteers were recruited on the doorstep
by a specialist agency. Some were in couple
households, some were lone male parents,
and one lived in a house share. Just over half
were in households in receipt of an income
of under £15,000 per annum, a quarter were
in receipt of less than £25,000 a year, two
were in receipt of between
£30,000 - £40,000, and
one was in receipt of
£42,000. The interviews
lasted on average 90
minutes, and each
was personally
conducted in
the
Dr Jackie Goode
individual’s home by either Dr Goode or her
colleague, Dr Amanda Waring.
Dr Goode said: “Getting a good sample of
men willing to sign-up for the study proved
difficult. The specialist agency we employed
to recruit volunteers experienced much
resistance. A phrase that kept coming up
was ‘male pride’. We found this feedback
from the agency very useful, as it alerted us
to an issue we would later follow up in the
interviews.”
Dr Goode continued: “To get an overall
picture of over-indebtedness in each
individual household we began with some
factual questions, such as what kinds of
debts they had, at what level, whether they
had ever sought professional advice, and if
not, why not?
“Then we introduced a set of topics which
were more conversational and exploratory.
We wanted to understand how men managed
on a day-to-day basis and what strategies
they employed to cope with debt. It’s simply
not the case that you have manageable
debts one day, and the next you are overindebted.
It’s an unfolding process, and they
began telling us their stories.”
“Men seem to take a ‘do-ityourself’
approach to overindebtedness.
They feel it’s
their responsibility to get
themselves out of trouble”
In looking at the routes into over-indebtedness,
Dr Goode and her team found that
arrears on bills and rent were most typical,
but relationship breakdowns also figured,
(either where a man had to manage debts
himself for the first time, or where he became
liable for a financial settlement). Drug and
gambling addiction were also mentioned.
Dr Goode explained one of the research
outcomes, and perhaps key to why men leave
it so late to seek advice, centered on male
identity issues. She said: “Men seem to take
a ‘do-it-yourself’ approach to over-indebtedness.
They feel it’s their responsibility to
get themselves out of trouble. Women may
feel empowered by being able to manage
a tight budget, but men often believe they
should be the providers for their families and
are embarrassed to share their problems
with friends, family or professional services,
meaning debt frequently worsens over time.”
Dr Goode added: “It’s important to recognise
that the provider, or breadwinner, identity is
still out there. Men are often judged on
the money that they earn, or don’t earn.
Traditionally, unemployment
has been an attack on
men’s identity. If a man is a
high earner, that enhances his identity.
This male pride and do-it-yourself attitude
– in relation to problematic debt – is a new
finding. I don’t think it’s been properly
explored in this context before.
“There are clearly many complex
psychological and sociological factors at
play here. If debt advisors could frame their
marketing messages to men as “providers”
or as “caring for their family” in seeking
advice they may find this appeals, and could
encourage more men to come forward.”
New technologies also played their part in
how men managed household income.
Dr Goode said: “We noted some men took
pride in using technology to keep track
of their money. They’d shop around, move
their cash about to secure better
rates of interest,
get text alerts when
nearing their overdraft
limit. Online banking and
telephone banking gave them
a sense of control over their
finances. Some tried to make ‘clever’
investments and saw this as ‘beating the
system’, but the danger here was that this
could also lead to over-indebtedness.
“Because men appeared to be both
confident and competent at using these
new technologies, we suggested to debt
charities that some of the products they have
developed, such as online self-help tools, may
have particular appeal to male consumers.”
Another barrier to men seeking advice
was the mistrust that arose from being
unable to distinguish between the free and
independent advice offered by financial
charities, and that of the commercial debtmanagement
companies. The Loughborough
team suggested charitable groups emphasise
their free and independent status.
Dr Goode said: “From the sample of men we
studied, those who had sought advice from
debt charities told us they found it extremely
useful, which was encouraging.”
Visit: www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/ss/staff/goode
Contact: dr Jackie goode
Email: J.e.goode@lboro.ac.uk
Publication: Goode, J. and Waring, A. (2011) Seeking direction: Men,
money advice and the road to financial health. CRSP/Money Advice Trust
the research & enterprise view
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