Debt weighs heavy on family ties

Credit card debts, personal loan repayments and the rising cost of commodities are all increasing the fiduciary pressure on the nation's families, counsellors have claimed.

As financial stresses mount, more and more Australians are withholding the true extent of their money worries from their partners and loved ones and relationships are now riddled with economical secrets and lies, according to both relationship and financial counsellors.

In the Sydney Morning Herald, Ben Paris of debt solution company Debt Mediators said that many of the inquiries the group gets are "from people desperate to hide their debts from their partners".

"They feel embarrassed and like a failure and want to be able to make the problem go away without having to tell their loved ones," he added.

Debt Mediators specialises in helping people with money problems, credit card liabilities and debt consolidation.

Mr Paris stated that the fact that a large number of people would rather get into further debt than "share their worries with those closest to them" is a "shocking indictment" of the current state of people's finances and mindsets.

The problem is spread across all demographics, according to Mr Paris, with middle-class families also finding themselves in a fiscal quagmire.

An initial lack of communication leads to secrets, lies and mistrust and Mr Paris stated that the situation has been getting worse.

The newspaper reported that around two years ago he was receiving approximately 200 phone calls a week but this figure has increased 150 per cent to around 500 today.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the number of divorces in 2006 fell two per cent from 52,399 to 51,375, which represented the fifth annual decrease since the high of 55,330 in 2001.

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