Crippling debt is helping to keep as many as 10,000 Dunedin people trapped below the poverty line, according to new research by Presbyterian Support Otago.
Tuesday, November 11th 2003, 1:24AM
by The Landlord
The social service agency has found debt, much of it to the Government, is a major impediment to 75 per cent of its clients escaping poverty.
The agency's director of community mission, Dennis Povey, said many were trapped in a cycle where inadequate income pushed them further into debt every week.
Another disturbing trend was the increasing use of high-cost loans, which now made up 24 per cent of the debt burden carried by poor families.
