What you need is what you get? Vocabularies of needs and gender in Swedish budget- and debt counselling

In parallel with increasing levels of household over-indebtedness, dominant discourses position debt problems mainly as resulting from financial mismanagement and character failings on the individual level. The ‘fiscal identity’ of over-indebted is thereby constructed in opposition to current ideals of financial competence and rationality. This article seeks to investigate how these dominant discourses interact with notions of gender in the debt-managing institution of Swedish budget and debt counselling. The aim was to examine the fiscal identities that are constructed in budget and debt counsellor’s talk and written documentation about male and female clients, and the implications these constructions may have for the help-giving technologies implemented. The empirical material consists of 11 focus group interviews with budget and debt counsellors and analysis of documentation. The results show that gendered fiscal identities are constructed, with masculinity being associated with financial competence, autonomy and less need of emotional support and femininity with a lack of financial competence and a need for comprehensive counselling contacts. These gendered constructions implicitly motivate different help-giving technologies for women and men, although the counsellors claim that gender does not influence the help they provide. Age and ethnicity are found to affect these gendered constructions to varying degrees. The results are discussed in relation to the ideals that are (re)produced through the construction of these gendered fiscal identities and help-giving technologies and how debt-managing welfare institutions contribute to the making of the indebted woman and man.

Over-indebtedness has become an increasingly common issue in Europe and a growing concern for social work. In Sweden, budget and debt counsellors are the main actors guiding over-indebted individuals towards financial well-being. This study analyses how budget and debt counsellors rhetorically make sense of and justify their service provision. The research data consist of interviews with thirty-nine counsellors, supported by vignettes. The analysis shows that counsellors make sense of their service by constructing two guiding principles: to promote financial agency, centred on upholding the client’s autonomy and self-determination in solving the debt problems, respectively, to promote financial change, centred on providing the advice, guidance and practical support required to alleviate the client’s debt problems. These two guiding principles construct the client’s capability and responsibility to deal with their debt burden differently and motivate the counsellors to take different courses of action in relation to the client. Counsellors’ sense-making talk can thus be said to both reproduce and challenge predominant policy discourses emphasising citizens’ personal responsibility for creating welfare. The findings are discussed in relation to their implications for social work policy and practice.

The study aims to develop an Islamic debt and wealth management framework based on Shariah to improve Malaysians' financial behaviour. This is a qualitative study where semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect the primary data. The target respondents were local Shariah scholars and the Credit Counselling and Debt Management Agency (AKPK). A purposive sampling technique was used to select the samples from the population, including six Shariah scholars and six AKPK officers. The collected data were analysed thematically to come up with the main findings of the study. The study reveals several Islamic guidelines to manage personal debt and wealth. The findings outline that Islam discourages debt in personal life. Moreover, it allows debt restructuring to reduce the default rate in order to prevent insolvency. Besides, Islam encourages the practice of wealth accumulation through saving and investment, wealth protection through Takaful, balanced spending of wealth to form capital, earning a decent income, avoiding debt, securing wealth and ultimately overcoming financial difficulties. This study contributes to guiding Malaysians and other individuals to improve their financial behaviours by following Islamic guidelines of debt and wealth management so that they can avoid personal financial difficulties resulting from inefficient management of debt and wealth.

This study evaluates the measures undertaken by the Credit Counselling and Debt Management Agency (AKPK) to assist those financially distressed due to their inability to meet their financial commitments amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Adopting secondary analysis of qualitative data, relevant secondary data, including journal articles, annual reports, and newspaper articles, were analyzed. The study finds that measures adopted by AKPK in response to the COVID-19 pandemic include reinforcing the workforce, enhancing IT infrastructures, deploying digital platforms, using various media channels, introducing online apps, online portals, online webinars, online learning modules, and online payment facility for all debt management participants. AKPK is also entrusted with handling small and medium enterprises (SMEs) under the Small Debt Resolution Scheme. A dedicated SME Helpdesk is established to facilitate the process. AKPK’s continual support to provide financial aid is reflected in its collaborative effort with the banking industry under the Financial Management and Resilience Program and the Financial Resilience Support Program. However, the government should seriously consider strengthening personal data protection laws because of AKPK’s significant reliance on digital platforms. Similarly, appropriate government bodies must take quick action to address the digital divide issue and promote inclusion to reduce disparity in terms of access to online services offered by AKPK. Also, since certain individuals or SMEs with credit facilities with entities not regulated by Bank Negara Malaysia are deprived of this incentive, relevant regulators should undertake actions to provide a similar facility. This study is significant in that it provides lessons to be learned by other credit counseling and debt management agencies in adopting effective measures to enable them to adapt to the new normal. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2023-SPER-011 Full Text: PDF

When debt becomes unmanageable, two options for a consumer debtor in Canada are: (1) enlisting the services of a bankruptcy trustee, and (2) becoming a client of a not-for-profit credit counselling agency. Each of these options is regulated differently and has public and private dimensions. At first glance, these two options might seem to illustrate the potential of multiple legal orders to better serve the public. In this paper, however, we argue, based on empirical research on the credit counselling industry, that while this pluralism has potential to facilitate debt relief in Canada, it has failed to do so. The lines between public and private options have been blurred to the point where they are difficult to discern, and the consumer debtor is ultimately disadvantaged.

This study examined the debt situation of prisoners in Germany, focusing on the relationship between incarceration and debt accumulation, the role of prisoner wages, and its subsequent effects on re-entry into society by incorporating quantitative questionnaires and qualitative interviews with practitioners in prison. The findings revealed that debts related to criminal justice proceedings are perceived as significant, and debt related to incarceration is seen as barrier for re-entry perspectives. The results indicate a positive effect of debt counseling, highlight inconsistencies in the perceived benefits of raising prisoner wages on debt management, and underscore the necessity for tailored debt counseling and wage reforms to enhance rehabilitation outcomes.

The main purpose of this study is to understand the financial status of urban poor community in Kuala Lumpur and factors affecting their personal well-being. The sampling size of this research is 1,064 respondents chosen by using systematic sampling method. The data was obtained by using self- administered questionnaires and the data being analysed by descriptive analysis meanwhile and multi regression analysis. The results shows that the urban poor community in Kuala Lumpur are having a moderate level of financial literacy possess a less effective financial behaviour, experiencing a high financial strain and adapting a moderate level of personal well-being. Besides that, the results also indicates that the financial literacy has no influence on personal well-being of the urban poor community, meanwhile financial behaviour has a positive influence and financial strain has a negative influence on the personal well-being of the urban poor community. The findings of the study suggest the government and non-government organisation such as Economic Planning Unit ((EPU), Kuala Lumpur City Hall (KLCH or DBKL), Central Bank of Malaysia (BNM), Credit Counselling and Debt Management Agency (CCDM or AKPK), Federation of Consumer Association (FOMCA) to make an inclusive effort and approach to improve the personal well-being of the urban poor. By understanding more about the financial status of the urban poor community, it is hoped to help them to become financial prudence and in the long-run could lead them into a good decision making while facing conflicts in financial issues and maintain a good quality of life. It is important to ensure the urban poor consumers have better financial management skills which lead them to make the right decision in order to enhance their personal well-being.

Social work is a field in which budget and debt counselling are offered, and instruments have been developed to map this type of problem. The aim of this paper is to present a scoping review of validated instruments in budget and debt counselling with over-indebted people. The study’s questions are: How do the instruments studied address problems related to over-indebtedness? What assumptions about the causes and remedies of over-indebtedness do the instruments for budget and debt counselling rest on? How can the ways in which these instruments address over-indebtedness be understood as micro-managing this social problem? How may the use of these instruments affect the possibility of budget and debt counsellors taking structural conditions and barriers into account? The study results show that most of the instruments are designed to map resources or problems related to the household economy. Using these instruments, social workers can be seen as part of the governance of citizens through reformatory technology and micro-management of subjects in a financialized society. On the one hand, they can be used to support clients. On the other hand, the instruments can also shift the focus away from structural conditions in society and the consequences of economic inequality.

Depression and debt are common in the UK. Debt Counselling for Depression in Primary Care: an adaptive randomised controlled pilot trial (DeCoDer) aimed to assess the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the addition of a primary care debt counselling advice service to usual care for patients with depression and debt. However, the study was terminated early during the internal pilot trial phase because of recruitment delays. This report describes the rationale, methods and findings of the pilot study, and implications for future research. The overarching aim of the internal pilot was to identify and resolve problems, thereby assessing the feasibility of the main trial. The specific objectives were to confirm methods for practice recruitment and the ability to recruit patients via the proposed approaches; to determine the acceptability of the study interventions and outcome measures; to assess contamination; to confirm the randomisation method for main trial and the level of participant attrition; and to check the robustness of data collection systems. An adaptive, parallel, two-group multicentre randomised controlled pilot trial with a nested mixed-methods process and economic evaluation. Both individual- and cluster (general practice)-level were was used in the pilot phase to assign participants to intervention or control groups. General practices in England and Wales. Individuals were included who were aged ≥ 18 years, scored ≥ 14 on the Beck Depression Inventory II and self-identified as having debt worries. The main exclusion criteria were being actively suicidal or psychotic and/or severely depressed and unresponsive to treatment; having a severe addiction to alcohol/illicit drugs; being unable/unwilling to give written informed consent; currently participating in other research including follow-up phases; having received Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) debt advice in the past year; and not wanting debt advice via a general practice. The participants in the intervention group were given debt advice provided by the CAB and shared biopsychosocial assessment, in addition to treatment as usual (TAU) and two debt advice leaflets. The participants in the control group were given advice leaflets provided by the general practitioner and TAU only. (1) Outcomes of the pilot trial - the proportion of eligible patients who consented, the number of participants recruited compared with target, assessment of contamination, and assessment of patient satisfaction with intervention and outcome measures. (2) Participant outcomes - primary - Beck Depression Inventory II; secondary - psychological well-being, health and social care utilisation, service satisfaction, substance misuse, record of priority/non-priority debts, life events and difficulties, and explanatory measures. Outcomes were assessed at baseline (pre-randomisation) and at 4 months post randomisation. Other data sources - qualitative interviews were conducted with participants, clinicians and CAB advisors. Of the 238 expressions of interest screened, 61 participants (26%) were recruited and randomised (32 in the intervention group and 29 in the control group). All participants provided baseline outcomes and 52 provided the primary outcome at 4 months' follow-up (14.7% dropout). Seventeen participants allocated to the intervention saw a CAB advisor. Descriptive statistics are reported for participants with complete outcomes at baseline and 4 months' follow-up. Our qualitative findings suggest that the relationship between debt and depression is complex, and the impact of each on the other is compounded by other psychological, social and contextual influences. As a result of low recruitment, this trial was terminated at the internal pilot phase and was too small for inferential statistical analysis. We recommend ways to reduce this risk when conducting complex trials among vulnerable populations recruited in community settings. These cover trial design, the design and delivery of interventions, recruitment strategies and support for sites. Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN79705874. This project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme and will be published in full in Health Technology Assessment; Vol. 21, No. 35. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information. Mark Gabbay and Adele Ring are part-funded by NIHR Collaborations for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRC) North West Coast and Richard Byng and Rod S Taylor, Vashti Berry and Elizabeth Shaw part-funded by NIHR CLAHRC South West Peninsula.

Over a million U.S. veterans report an income below the poverty line. The Veterans Affairs (VA) offers financial literacy and money management education to promote veterans' economic well-being. This study examined perceptions of the barriers and facilitators to economic resources among financial providers and experts serving veterans. This study implemented a VA Redcap survey constructed of closed-ended and open-ended questions to examine perceptions of financial programs. Descriptive statistics were used to examine the close-ended responses; qualitative analysis was performed on the open-ended responses. A total of 269 subject matter experts responded to the survey. Fifty-nine percent (n = 158) of respondents reported that financial counseling and education for veterans takes place outside of their local VA. Most frequently used services included financial coaching (46%; n = 124), assistance in attaining other sources of income (44%; n = 118), establishing a bank account (25%; n = 67), group financial education (23%; n = 62), and providing representative payee or conservator (19%; n = 51). Barriers to financial counseling and education exist with a lack of program awareness (70%; n = 188) and eligibility (66%; n = 178) being most often reported. Financial and money management interventions produce positive outcomes but should consider more effective modes in which to extend reach, education, and build trusting relationships in effort to increase financial stability and quality of life among low-income veterans.

Resilience is considered an important solution to problematic personal debt. European debt policy and research generally focuses on the financial resilience of individuals against life events that may generate debt problems. However, many studies overlook the social dimensions of resilience with regards to tackling problematic personal debt. In this article, we therefore explore the meaning and practices of fostering social resilience in people with severe debt problems, from the perspective of social workers, debt counsellors and volunteers working in a disadvantaged urban community in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. We conducted a case study and used qualitative research methods. The findings reveal that debt problems may lead to a state of inertia in people; an incapability to move, act on or change direction within a given situation. Social workers try to foster social resilience by generating a form of movement in this inert state, and by moving along with people as they work on their debt problems at their own pace and in their local environment. This endeavour involves three interactive practices: taking the lead, activating and connecting. We conclude that fostering resilience is less about tackling debt problems head-on, and more about nurturing positive change in people’s everyday lives and actions.

Previous theoretical and empirical models of nurses' remaining in everyday nursing practice are explained by elements such as intent to stay and desire to stay. This study provides a model that expands or expresses an increased understanding of the comprehensiveness of the issue by pointing to the qualitative worth of different desires. The aim of this study is to describe a comprehensive model of nurses' remaining in everyday nursing practice. This study was designed in three sequential stages: first, the empirical foundation of the model; second, the development of the model; and third, the description of the model. The described model is derived from a previous qualitative study's comprehensive understanding of empirical findings. That original study was based on a hermeneutical approach, the aim of which was to understand what is of significance for nurses to remain in everyday practice. The collected data consisted of qualitative interviews and qualitative follow-up interviews with 13 nurses. The research context was the primary and secondary somatic and psychiatric health service. The present comprehensive model is stated in a simple structure, which nonetheless provides a relevant framework for constituent elements of nurses' remaining in everyday practice. Horizons of identity and self-understanding have been identified as constituent elements or key concepts involved in remaining. By focusing on a deepened and broader understanding, the model highlights that remaining may be constituted through a process of identification and taking standpoints, which in turn has a potential to empower nurses to realize themselves.

This study applied the theory of planned behavior to examine factors associated with the intention and behavior of staying in debt management plans (DMP) using data collected from a sample of clients of a national credit counseling agency. The findings of this study suggest that the behavioral intention is positively associated with the attitude toward the behavior, perceived control, satisfaction with the service, and debt-reducing behavior; at the same time, behavioral intention is negatively associated with other financial behaviors. The behavior of staying in a DMP is positively associated with the behavioral intention and perceived control.

Financial counselling knowledge in the Malaysian public is crucial in helping individuals to manage and plan their finances better and more efficiently, in which financial counselling means a process in helping relationships with the choices and beliefs required in involving finances. Problems arise due to the increase in cases of insolvencies and bankruptcy among Malaysians stemming from a lack of awareness and knowledge in financial counselling, as well as the failure of the public to plan their financial management. This study aims to identify the relationship between understanding, perception, consumers’ demographic factors, and other factors with the awareness of the importance of financial counselling from the perspective of Maqasid Syariah. The type of methodology used in this study is quantitative by selecting a hundred respondents from (UniSHAMS) to answer a survey that has been prepared online and responses that have been given are analyzed to obtain data by using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) to obtain descriptive and inferential values and multiple regression analysis. The findings from the analysis show that understanding factors and demographic factors are not the cause of the lack of awareness of financial counselling among members of higher learning institutions from the perspective of Maqasid Syariah. However, the perception factor strongly influences this study. The researcher hopes that with this study, the financial planning agency namely the Credit Counselling and Debt Management Agency (CCDM), also known as Agensi Kaunseling dan Pengurusan Kredit (AKPK) can increase the efforts in implementing various forms of programs in providing exposure of the importance of knowledge related to financial counselling to society, especially those from higher learning institutions. This can be done by encouraging them to get involved in the programs provided and also to improve the educational modules related to financial counselling from the perspective of Maqasid Syariah to foster awareness among the public as early as primary school.

Studies of human behaviours have been conducted extensively and continuously in order to gain better understanding on how people make decisions. For Muslims, the behaviour must not deviate from the principles, demands, and standards set by Shari’ah. In the context of financial behaviour, Muslims are significantly influenced by their religious belief, particularly in distinguishing between halal (permissible) and haram (impermissible), as well as restrictions in financial dealings. Hence, Muslims are required to have a meticulous understanding of the subjects, as Shari’ah has established distinct guiding principles in financial arrangements. This paper aims to analyse the existing Islamic financial literacy literature by conceptualizing the influence of religiosity and Islamic financial knowledge on Muslim’s financial behaviours. A literature review has been undertaken for the conceptual development. The association between Islamic financial knowledge, religiosity, and Islamic financial behaviour has been established, laying the groundwork for future research. Islamic financial knowledge and religiosity have both been demonstrated to be significant in capturing Islamic financial behaviours and are therefore indispensable components of Islamic financial literacy. This paper expands the literature by increasing our understanding of Islamic financial literacy among Muslims. The findings of this study could offer the related bodies in financial knowledge and literacy like the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for international level and local agency in Malaysia like the Credit Counselling and Debt Management Agency (AKPK) with a new perspective on Muslims’ financial behaviour, by considering the role of religion and Islamic financial knowledge in order to develop effective and relevant strategies to improve financial literacy among Muslims.