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Reasons for bankruptcy differ between men and women

Reasons for bankruptcy differ between men and womenInsolvency body R3 recently released research that showed significant differences in the reasons why men and women enter bankruptcy. 

While failure to live within their means is a common cause for both sexes, for men the other key factors include business failure or loss of employment while for women, bankruptcy is often the result of a relationship breakdown and loss of a partner’s income.

Gavin Bates, Finance Director at PBC, said: “The research is interesting and correlates with what we commonly see at PBC. It is still a fact of life that men are most often the main earners within a family, and therefore loss of employment or income will have a large impact. However, when meeting with people facing bankruptcy, further differences immediately become very clear. Women often see it as a personal failure and express great concern about the impact on family and friends. For this reason, they often wait longer before seeking advice, which in turn can make it more difficult for us to help. However, they do tend to be more organised, with a clear understanding of what they owe and to whom, and also of the bankruptcy procedure itself, having done a great deal of internet research in the run up to contacting us.

In our experience, men, on the other hand, are often more concerned about the personal impact on them and their ability to work. Their paperwork also tends to be more disorganised. What is probably most alarming is the fact that in a family unit the communication between partners has often broken down, with men often hiding the full extent of the problem.”

As with all financial difficulties, we cannot stress enough that the key to having the widest range of options available to resolve the problem lies in contacting a professional advisor early,” he concluded.

 

For more information on bankruptcy please visit https://www.pbcbusinessrecovery.co.uk/services/personal/bankruptcy/