I don't know about Europe, but the question isn't just one of debt but of how expensive it is to pay it down.
Last week my mother, now in her eighties, asked me to call her credit card company because they had tacked on a seven dollar interest charge to her bill, which she had paid in time and in full. She has been paying her bill in full for fifteen years.
I called up, worked my way up the supervisor chain, until I found a human who could explain what happened. Here's what happened: my mother had mistakenly paid her bill one dollar short two months ago. Instead of 69.23, she sent 68.23. So she had to pay seven dollars interest (interest mind you, not penalties) for that one dollar difference. When the supervisor told me that I just laughed loud and long. She apologized and said they would reverse the charge, but I wonder how many people never call up and complain.
I also noticed the interest rate on her credit card was 24%; this for a woman whose credit is perfect. Absolutely perfect. This for money the cc companies borrow at what 1%, 2%? something like that.
So it's not just the issue of debt, it's also the issue of how much it costs to service it. And that is something nobody is talking about.
Joanna
^^^^^^^ CB: And fraud and predatory practices , as your example of a fraudulent interest charge on your mother demonstrates....