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Over-Indebtedness in the Finnish Consumer Society

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Abstract

The incurring of debts continues to be a major problem in European economies despite the legislative and other preventive policies introduced over the past 10 years. This article discusses the problem of over-indebtedness in the Finnish consumer society. The article focuses on identifying the environmental and household factors promoting indebtedness and reviews the measurements of over-indebtedness. At the end of the article, a few policy instruments to tackle, or even prevent, over-indebtedness are provided. As debt problems are diverse and complex, the focus is to address the debt problem itself, identify its causes and search for tools for solving it. In addition, constructive talk about the indications of the problem and preventive mechanisms is also of essence.

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Notes

  1. The Guarantee Foundation is an institution that helps over-indebted people to manage their debts independently.

  2. Suomen Asiakastieto Oy Ltd is the leading business and credit-information company in Finland and the only actor responsible for maintaining a register of consumers’ credit information and gathering data on registered payment defaults from authorities and creditors in Finland.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Consumer Research Centre, P.O. Box 5, 00531, Helsinki, Finland

    Anu Raijas, Anna-Riitta Lehtinen & Johanna Leskinen

Authors
  1. Anu Raijas
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  2. Anna-Riitta Lehtinen
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  3. Johanna Leskinen
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Correspondence to Anu Raijas.

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Raijas, A., Lehtinen, AR. & Leskinen, J. Over-Indebtedness in the Finnish Consumer Society. J Consum Policy 33, 209–223 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10603-010-9131-8

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