Men are more likely to become insolvent than women

According to figures released by debt charity Consumer Credit Counselling Service, men are more likely to become insolvent than women.

Last year, of those the charity recommended an Individual Voluntary Agreement (IVA) to, 55.4% were men, whilst 51.4% of those recommended bankruptcy were also men.

The existence of an insolvency gender divide is supported by figures that CCCS has obtained from the Insolvency Service, with statistics from 2000 to 2008 showing that men have always taken out more IVAs or gone bankrupt more than women. In 2008, the most recent available figures by gender, show that 23,173 women went bankrupt in 2008 compared to 37,972 men, an increase of over 50%, while 17,300 women took out an IVA, four thousand less than the 21,318 men who did.

The levels of debt for CCCS clients gives an indication why there are higher numbers of insolvency among men. While couples have more debt than single people, on average owing just over £30,000, single men owe on average £19,830, which is 17 percent more than the average of £16,937 for single women.

CCCS spokeswoman Frances Walker said:

“This may be the one equality which women may not want to aspire to. Whatever sex you are, I would urge anyone worried about their debt to seek help as soon as possible.”