Debt Awareness Week 2025
“There’s no better way to justify relations founded on violence, to make such relations seem moral, than by reframing them in the language of debt – above all because it immediately makes it seem that it’s the victim who’s doing something wrong”
— David Graeber
The UK is in a debt crisis. Energy debt remains at record levels, with households owing £3.8bn in arrears. Council tax debt in England and Wales has reached £6.2bn and is set to rise further as councils hike rates by 5% or more. Ten million people are overindebted, struggling to pay bills or bearing a heavy financial burden.
The outlook is grim. Government austerity measures and benefit cuts, reaffirmed earlier this week by the spring statement, will only push more people into poverty and destitution, yet debt rarely makes headlines. Why?
This year’s Debt Awareness Week theme is stigma – how shame around debt prevents people from seeking help and support. But tackling stigma isn’t just about advice and guidance; it’s about dismantling a system that punishes people for their financial struggles.
What is debt stigma?
Anyone who’s been in debt knows stigma: the judgment when admitting you’re behind on a bill, the assumption that debt stems from irresponsibility. This belief discourages open conversation, isolating those in financial distress.
But stigma runs deeper than personal shame. University of Cambridge academic Matthew Sparkes argues that debt stigma is embedded in neoliberal ideology – a way of controlling behaviour through social and economic norms. People in debt are labelled “flawed consumers,” seen as failing to participate in society by either consuming too little or too much. Under this logic, debt becomes a moral failing, marking individuals as outsiders.
This stigma isn’t just personal; it shapes policy. It prevents MPs from empathizing with indebted constituents, stops Chancellors from reversing welfare cuts that push hundreds of thousands into poverty, and keeps debt out of public debate despite its widespread impact.
Talking about debt is a start, coming together against debt is better
The common advice to “engage with your debt” overlooks the systemic forces at play. First, even when people seek help, they often find little support. Second, overcoming stigma isn’t a simple action; it requires someone to go up against an overriding social, political and economic narrative that shames people for struggling.
You cannot win here, you’ll be stigmatised for being in debt, you’ll be stigmatised for admitting you’re in debt. What’s the solution?
History tells us that debt has always been political. From the abolition of debtors’ prisons in the 19th century to the payday loan crackdown of the 2010s, change has come not from individual action but from collective pressure. Today, we must take that same approach to tackle modern debt injustices.
Organising works. Already, through working with our local Together Against Debt campaign groups, we have won school meal debt write off in Glasgow, won a commitment for millions in housing support in Southwark, protected council tax support recipients from bailiff action in Manchester. By coming together, we can see that debt is not a personal failing, but the outcome of a system stacked against us.
For Debt Awareness Week 2025, we invite you to go beyond talking about debt – join us in fighting it. This year, we’re expanding our campaign against unfair household debt, including our effort to Ban the Bailiffs.
Become a Debt Justice supporter and help end unfair debt and the stigma that sustains it.