In many countries, it is easy to get a credit card to borrow money. An increasing number of people are falling deeper into debt. What solutions are there to this?

The willingness of banks to provide loans or credit cards to customers who may not be able to afford the repayments has resulted in financial difficulties for many people; there are a number of ways in which this situation can be improved, as discussed below. Primarily, it is important that we are educated in how to sensibly manage our money. In school we learn about subjects such as history and geography but very little about the skills we need for day to day life. If high school children are given advice in such areas, they should be more equipped for the responsibilities they will face as adults. For example, schools could offer seminars on how to budget one’s daily expenses. Secondly, warnings about the problems of building debt could be made part of a public awareness campaign. Many people are embarrassed to talk about their financial problems and therefore the pitfalls are not often openly discussed. An organisation such as the Citizen’s Advice Bureau could take responsibility for increasing the knowledge of the general public in this area. A final solution could be that stricter regulations of money lending practices could be introduced. Policies on loan arrangements or credit cards could be overseen by a government agency to ensure that banks acted in the best interests of their customers. To illustrate, credit limits on credit cards could be strictly limited in line with the borrower’s income level. To summarise, educators, advice organisations and the government could all contribute to improving the situation of the nation’s debt; it is likely without intervention that this problem will become much worse.