Constitution, Article 20 | Adequate income

“People can get into debt for all sorts of reasons. I recently spoke to a young mother who had been homeless and had got into trouble as a result. We helped her get her finances back on track. She was also given a place to live and was able to make a fresh start. I also supported a former business owner. An accident forced him to close his business. His income then fell so sharply that he ended up in debt.” 

“I love that I can really make a difference to these people. You sit down together and work through what’s going on. I try to show them that we can take steps to find a way out of it. That often brings them a huge sense of relief: finally, something’s happening! It’s so important to these people that their problem is being tackled.” 

“The government tries to ensure that everyone has enough money, according to Article 20 of the Constitution. But sometimes people actually find themselves in financial difficulty because of the government. For example, they may have to pay back benefits. Or they may be fined for reporting something too late. Some rules are very complicated. Even for us, they’re sometimes hard to understand. Fortunately, the government is trying to change that.” 

“So it’s not surprising that some people are a bit afraid to come to us for help. Many people also feel ashamed that they’ve got into debt. They try to sort it out on their own for as long as possible. But it really does help if you seek help early on. The longer you wait, the bigger the problems become. Fortunately, we can still help people get out of debt even at that stage.”