Title:
Problematic debt situations in Belgium: indicators and profile of the population at risk

Abstract:
Problematic debt situations in Belgium: Indicators and Profile of the population at risk Sarah Carpentier & Karel Van den Bosch Centre for Social Policy Herman Deleeck – University of Antwerp Equalsoc Summer School 2008. The study of debt situations and problematic indebtedness is highly relevant in relation to poverty and social exclusion. This is also stated by the Joint report on Social Protection and Social Inclusion. However, until now this dimension has not been included in the commonly agreed indicators of the Open Method of Coordination on Social Security and Social Inclusion. With this paper we have three aims. Firstly, we explore which indicators may be valid and reliable indicators on problematic indebtedness based on the Belgian SILC 2004, which has some interesting additional Belgian questions. Secondly, we make an assessment of differences in the profiles of risk groups, compared to common indicators of deprivation and poverty. Thirdly, we examine the relationship between having credit (mortgage and consumer credit), problematic debt situations and social exclusion and poverty. We find seven indicators of problematic debt situations can be developed. We retain two of them as valid, reliable and with a clear significance. The first one is the percentage of the population living in a household having at least two arrears for basic provisions such as bills of electricity, gas or water, healthcare, or rent or mortgage. The second indicator is the percentage of persons becoming poor or poorer after the payment of consumption credit. These indicators reveal also a different profile of risk groups. Elderly have a very low risk. By the contrary, families with children have a high risk. Moreover, we find that persons in households having only consumer credit have a high risk of overindebtedness, while the major part of people in indebted households (with arrears for basic provisions) has no credit at all. We can conclude that indebtedness is an important dimension to integrate in the measurement of poverty and social exclusion.