Pandemic, inflation, higher prices: more and more households have money worries or even debts. Accordingly, many people turn to counseling centers. In the meantime, money problems have reached the middle of society, explains the Cologne Diakonie.
The debt counseling centers of associations such as Caritas and Diakonie recorded a significantly higher number of visitors in the past year. “The exploding demand is pushing our counseling centers to the limit,” said the spokesman for the Associations’ Debt Counseling Working Group (AG SBV), Roman Schlag. “The waiting lists for appointments are getting longer and waiting is never a good thing when you have money problems.”
The AG SBV includes about 1400 advice centers. In November and December they were asked about developments over the past year; the working group received 460 replies. 65 percent of the participating counseling centers stated that demand had grown over the course of the year. 16 percent even reported an increase of more than 30 percent. “The economic hardship of many people and thus the need for support and advice is growing continuously,” said AG spokesman Schlag.
“The pandemic already had this effect, now it’s the rising prices that are driving households into financial difficulties.” In 45 percent of the counseling centers surveyed, more people were employed than in the previous survey, as the working group further announced. In addition, more young adults and pensioners would come to the consultation. “Money shortages and even debts have arrived in the middle of society,” explained Maike Cohrs from the debt counseling service at Diakonie in Cologne.
In the AG SBV, leading organizations of the free welfare care – Caritas, Diakonie, Arbeiterwohlfahrt, Paritätischer Wohlfahrtsverband, Red Cross – as well as the Federal Association of Consumers (vzbv) and the Federal Working Group for Debt Counseling have joined together.
