Falling Behind on Household Bill Payments in the UK: Exploring Longitudinal Trends, and the Drivers of Observed Trends, in the Incidence of This Debt in the UK Population

Maya Middleton-Welch, University of Liverpool, PhD students
Mark Green, University of Liverpool
Alexander Singleton, University of Liverpool

Falling behind on household bill payments is a particularly harmful form of debt (Salter, 2014) and can affect the ability of individuals to access housing and energy (Lane et al, 2018). There is currently limited empirical evidence capturing the extent to which UK populations have been affected by this form of indebtedness over time. This research will identify how the incidence of this type of debt has changed over time across the UK population, demographic groups and socioeconomic groups between 2009 to 2022. It will also explore the drivers of observed longitudinal trends. Descriptive analysis techniques and regression models will be utilised to obtain these findings. This analysis will further understanding about social inequalities in the UK. Exploring the drivers of longitudinal trends observed may reveal insights into broader societal trends and the impact of government policies in the UK. The findings may also be beneficial for debt advice charities in furthering understanding about whether their services have been reaching communities in need of support. References Lane, J. McCay, B & Thorne, M (2018) Hidden Debts: The growing problem of being behind on bills and in debt to the government available at https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/Global/CitizensAdvice/Debt%20and%20Money%20Publications/Hidden%20Debts%20report.pdf Salter (2014) The Borrowers available at https://demos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/TheBorrowers_REPORT.pdf

Keywords: Inequality, Disadvantage and Discrimination, Longitudinal studies

See extended abstract.