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Since 1990 we have been intensively dealing with consumer attitudes, credit taking and overindebtedness. We are not only interested in the description of differentiated consumption patterns
but also how and where they arise. By our results we have built a theory of credit taking and overindebtedness.
We understand credit taking as any form of indebtedness
which is economically and legally laid down by law and expects a role-concurring behavior from creditors and debtors.
Credit taking is constitutive for our economic system. There would be no economic growth without credit-related investments. This applies for the
production of goods as well as for their demand and consumption. For example young families use credits to finance their consumption. About 4 million new credits are taken each year, as a consequence credit taking has become an accepted and common behavior. The number
of credits (~2.5-3%) of credits which can not be paid back by the borrowers show however risks. Unemployment, separation, strokes of fate among low income but also economic inability can quickly lead to overindebtedness.
Overindebtedness is the case when the income
is no longer sufficient to fulfil the current financial obligations after the necessary costs for living has been deducted. On the psychological level the destabilization starts with shame, self-reproaches, nervousness and sleeplessness and ends with suicide. On the social
level there is a range from mutual accusations of guilt, separation to violence and often health crises.
The number of overindebted households has been continuously increased since 1988. We assume that about 3.5 million households are overindebted in Germany in
2007.
Since 1988 we have documented and commented on these coherencies and developments in four expertises as well numerous essays and lectures on national and international level:
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Financial Education |
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Prevention of debts |
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Responsible lending |
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Implementation of credit scoring methods |
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Definitions of credit taking and overindebtedness |
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Causes for overindebtedness |
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Access to financial services |
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Results of debt counselling |
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As a founding member of the European Consumer Debt Network and as a member of FIN-USE we introduce our scientific and practice-related findings continuously
into the public and political discussion.
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