When you think of people in debt, what do you imagine? Irresponsible people who leave telephones ringing and hide from debt collectors, or people faced with an impossible situation?

In this episode, Richard Kemp speaks with Ryan Davey, author of ‘The Personal Life of Debt’, about the true, everyday lives of indebted people.

They discuss the people Ryan met during his fieldwork on a southern English housing estate, the reality of living on the ‘never-never’, and what changes, to debt itself and society as a whole, are needed to break this vicious cycle.

Find out more about the book at: https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/the-personal-life-of-debt

The transcript is available here: https://www.transformingsociety.co.uk/2025/10/24/podcast-are-people-really-to-blame-for-their-debt/

Timestamps:

1:55 – What was your experience of Woldham during your research?

7:52 – Did you experience any class tension?

10:07 – How can debt be worse now than during the 2008 financial crash?

17:08 – What is ‘living on the never-never’ and what does it mean to different people?

25:46 – Are these communities perfect prey for credit?

32:19 – How does the rescue mindset of child protection manifest in a place like Woldham?

38:35 – What affect did right to buy, and other similar policies, have on working class communities?

44:34 – Why would debt advisors have negative views of debtors?

51:03 – What changes are needed to break this unending cycle of debt?

Intro music:

Cold by yoitrax | @yoitrax

Music promoted by www.free-stock-music.com 

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