In the National Budget Speech of May 2009, Finance Minister Bill English reported that: "New Zealand continues to spend more than it earns and finance the difference by excessive borrowing... Household debt has increased 51 per cent since 2004", indicating that the problem of debt exists on both a national and a personal level. In relation to national debt, English states that the amount "equates to just over $45,000 for every New Zealander... it would represent $180,000 of government debt for every family of four." This sobering statistic is only further highlighted by the OECD's April 2009 Policy Brief, which states that New Zealand is currently one of the most indebted economies in the OECD.

While the causes and effects of national debt are significantly different from those of personal debt, the continued escalation in public debt could eventually see vital services in areas such as health and education jeopardised due to lack of funding - an implication which would affect every New Zealander. In addition, the culture of spending and rampant consumerism which has become such a norm cannot simply be attributed to the influence of the media, or to personal weakness. Rather the governing forces which promote and sustain such a culture must take responsibility for the prevalent attitudes towards debt in society.

It is the rise of such a culture which has seen a subsequent rise in personal debt. Estimated at $71 billion, New Zealand's total personal debt is largely owed to financial institutions and banks, with the Reserve Bank estimating that credit card debt alone amounts to $5.175 billion. Even more worryingly, debt seems to be on a trajectory, with the NZ Herald recently reporting a 49 per cent increase in personal debt since 2006 and Baycorp debt collection agency has seen a 49 per cent increase in referred debt since 2006. Meanwhile, it is not just the amount of debt owed which continues to climb, but also the number of people now seeking help.

The Federation of Family Budgeting Service has reported a 25 per cent increase in the number of debt clients since the beginning of the recession in 2008. As a nation, it doesn't look as if New Zealand is listening to the advice.
So, why aren't we listening? Is money management simply an inconvenient truth? As English stated in May: "The economic slowdown that started in early 2008 was the product of a decade when we spent more and borrowed more while we saved less." Bankrate, an aggregator of financial rate information, also cites a lack of realistic financial expectations as the number one cause of personal debt.

Caught between the realities of income and expenditure, people can become entrenched in a cycle of continually disappointed hopes which debt all too easily fills. This reality gap is responsible for much of the poor money management choices which lead to greater and greater debt and a head-in-the-sand mentality where knowledge is not power, but a frightening wake-up call. Other factors such as divorce and reduced income or unemployment can also contribute significantly to personal debt. In combination with the recent economic downturn, these factors can lead to a downward spiral of debt over which people feel they have little or no control.

The implications of personal debt upon people's lives are both far-reaching and consequential. Claire Pointon quotes British money saving expert Martin Lewis in Therapy Today, stating that depression and alienation are common effects of debt, with an increasing number of people saying that they feel suicidal.

Lewis argues that, "People value themselves in terms of how much money they are worth and what they have got. That causes debt problems. This is something that we are not going to be able to move away from as a society, so we need to be able to deal with it." The sense of value which money imparts in our society means that people in debt not only suffer from fear of impoverishment, but also from a sense of low self-worth.

This sentiment is echoed by those who struggle with debt, as they try to gain a sense of purpose in a world which seems increasingly alienating. As one of Christians Against Poverty's clients recently stated, "To be in debt is so demeaning. It affects your marriage, your children and your outlook on life." The devastating effects of debt upon individuals, families and communities are much more than numbers and statistics - more than payments defaulted or small businesses dissolved - the effects are people's lives ruined by fear, loneliness and heartbreak.

Perhaps the problem with our perception of debt, the issue which New Zealanders are really not listening to, is that while we can count the cost in terms of money spent and owed, we have still failed to properly count the cost of lives affected.