Although it’s generally a good thing when the gender gap closes, women might not be delighted to have recently taken the lead on personal insolvency advice, for the first time becoming the majority gender in terms of declaring insolvency.
R3, the association of business recovery professionals, say there are several reasons for why more women than men are now seeking personal insolvency advice.
It could simply be that women are more pragmatic in their approach to debt, and are willing to declare insolvency whereas men might be more likely to bury their heads in the sand.
Alternatively, women’s debts may include more low-value and consumer debts, which changes to the insolvency regime have made easier to deal with.
Phillip Sykes, president of R3, said: “Based on the cases they see, 85% of insolvency practitioners say consumer debt issues are a major cause of insolvencies for females, while only 75% say the same for men.
“On the other hand, 83% of insolvency practitioners say the failure of someone’s own company is a leading cause of insolvency for men, compared to the 32% who say that for women.”
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