Indebtedness and suicidal ideation in Hong Kong

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• Indebtedness and suicidal ideation in Hong Kong
• Dr. Edward K.L. Chan
• Department of Social Work and Social
  Administration
• The University of Hong Kong

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Whats wrong?

• Impact of indebtedness on the individual and on
  society
• Debt as a health risk to the individual
• Debt as risk factor of suicide
• Reducing productivity
• Debt, as a main cause of bankruptcy, threat to
  financial system

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Individual indebtedness

• Voluntary
• Involuntary

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Voluntary indebtedness

• Undertaken to increase personal satisfaction,
  consumer benefit driven
• Types include
• Mortgage
• Study loan
• Cash advance - overdraft for any purpose
• Credit Card debt
• Business loan
• Speculative activities
• Financial instruments ? investment in nature
• Gambling ? entertainment in nature

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Involuntary indebtedness

• Driven by externalities
• Family Life Cycle maternity/ paternity, going
  to college / university
• Lifetime crisis unemployment, illness, injury,
  death of family members, divorce
• Previously voluntary debt become dead weight debt
  due to interest repayment trap
• Credit card multiple credit card, paying only
  the minimal amount
• Speculative activities margin call
• Cash advance / overdraft compound interest
• Personality impairment
• Compulsive buying disorder
• Problem / pathological gambling
• Alcoholism
• Substance abuse

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What is Debt?

• Broad definition
• A promise to pay tomorrow, for a consumption made
  today
• Core Future repayment, present consumption
• Underlying uncertainty ? many variables involved

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About the study

• Targets enquirers of the Healthy Budgeting-
  Family Counseling Programme , by Tung Wah Group
  of Hospitals (TWGHs)
• 783 subjects were recruited from Oct., 02 Feb.,
  03

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Distribution of enquirers by sex
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Age profile of enquirers
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Marital status of enquirers
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Percentage of enquirers by total amount of debt
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Number of credit cards with outstanding loans
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Main reasons of indebtedness
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• About 17 or 136 subjects had thought about
  committing suicide.

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Views of those who had thought about committing
suicide
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Characteristics Suicidal ideation Non-suicidal ideation p-value
Respondents Sex
Male 42.6 54.3 0.01
Female 57.4 45.7

Total amount of debt (ten thousand)
Mean 50.40 41.14 0.44
SD 97.02 129.07
No. of credit card with outstanding loan
Mean 6.29 5.30 0.01
SD 4.21 3.58
Amount of credit card debt (ten thousand)
Mean 19.12 16.14 0.06
SD 19.59 15.46
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Impact of indebtedness Suicidal ideation Non-suicidal ideation p-value
Stalking 55.97 27.82 0.00
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Impact of indebtedness Suicidal ideation Non-suicidal ideation p-value
Aspects most affected 0.00
Work performance 19.51 18.39
Family relationship 41.46 30.38
Social activities 5.69 5.42
Self-confidence 33.33 27.59
Not affected 0.00 18.23
Total 100.00 100.00
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Impact on physical health Suicidal ideation Non-suicidal ideation p-value
Insomnia 79.41 44.05 0.00
Headache 64.71 33.38 0.00
Muscle pain 19.85 6.18 0.00
Loss of appetite 36.03 8.96 0.00
Feeling tired 44.12 17.00 0.00
Dependent on alcohol and drug 11.76 2.47 0.00
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Impact on mental health Suicidal ideation Non-suicidal ideation p-value
could not concentrate 54.41 31.84 0.00
Nervous 72.06 61.98 0.02
Frighten 49.26 38.79 0.03
feeling agitated 47.79 43.74 0.39
depressed 63.97 28.13 0.00
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Recommendations

• Debt Counseling
• Retain workforce
• Restore repayment capability/motivation
• Reduce family stress/tragedies

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1. Debt Counseling

• Three strategies
• Debt avoidance
• Debt repayment
• Coping with debt

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Debt avoidance

• Increase protection over high-risk individuals
  (children of debtors, problem gamblers,
  individuals with addicted behaviors)
• Skills and assistance in financial management
• Value saving for a rainy day ???? over
  spending future money ?????
• Speculative behavior of Hong Kong people
• Recognizing the reality of potential debt from
  the status symbol (the gold credit card, the
  prestigious store charge card)

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Debt repayment

• Amount of credit line used
• Formal
• Informal
• Assessment of individual and Family Repayment
  Capacity
• Prioritizing the debts
• Improve communication, show effort in paying
• Encourage the borrower to respond rather than
  keeping their heads low (typical behavior which
  tends to lead to more aggressive collection
  method)
• Reduce debt/income ratio avoid incurring new
  debts
• Re-asses repayment period

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Coping with Debt

• Build / improve / restore resilience in debtors
  and high risk individuals
• Ability to cope with significant adversity
  Problem-solving skills, Social competence
  (flexibility, communication), Autonomy
  (self-efficacy and self control), a sense of
  purpose and future (success orientation,
  motivation and optimism)
• Improve social integration of debtors, in
  particular their relationship with their family
  and significant social nucleus
• Alleviate stress, even provide financial safety
  net for debtors

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2.Low Income Families Deserve Attention
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• Low socioeconomic status / Socially
  disadvantaged low income, unemployed, single
  parent, chronic illness patient and family,
  sudden lifetime crisis

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3.Cross Sector Collaboration
Creditor Market Information
Debt Relief Arrangement
Families-in-debt
Financial Planning
Family Casework
Budgeting Education
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Wish you

• Free of debt
• Free of interpersonal debt

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Thank You