"I Just Can't Make Ends Meet Aymore!"

Le Comité des affaires sociales
de l'Assemblée des évêques catholiques du Québec
1st May 1999 | Version française...

Introduction

1. From every region of Quebec, one hears the loud cry of persons burdened with debts. Many households scramble daily to meet the due date for making payments on an ever growing number of debts : eg. the purchase of consumer goods, rent, car payments, Christmas gifts, even gambling debts, and how many other kinds of debts.

2. Indebtedness has grown considerably over the last few years. According to recent statistics, indebtedness as a percentage of consumer spending in Quebec has gone from 15.3% in 1984 to 22.1% in 1997. [1]

3. These statistics mask the reality of widespread anxiety and anguish which often lead to illness, personal bankruptcy, [2] divorce, shame, homelessness,[3] and even suicide. In most cases indebtedness is lived out behind a veil of silence. People don't dare mention it. This makes the human consequences that much more dramatic and the social costs that much more enormous.

4. In its Message for May 1st, 1999, the Social Affairs Committee of the Assembly of the Bishops of Quebec is inviting the population, and particularly members of Christian communities, to come to a better grasp of this complex reality. The Committee is calling for deeper understanding of the causes of indebtedness and for concrete actions that might change, or at least improve, the current situation.

Two Scenarios Describing Indebtedness

5. The common factor in any such scenario is humiliation. Here are two typical examples :

• Gaston and Anne purchased a "dream home". The seller said that the monthly payments would be small. But since the contract was signed, there have been many other unexpected expenses. Moreover Anne lost her job when her employer decided to move his business to Mexico. The dream home has become a real hell for them. After many hours of painful soulsearching, the young couple finally lost their home.
• Serge earns his livelihood as a fisherman. He's heavily into debt because he bought a boat. He has just learned that he will not be eligible for an unemployment indemnity this year because he has not accumulated a sufficient number of hours of work. To survive, he'll have to borrow even more, --- or go into bankruptcy.

The Causes of Indebtedness

6. We know that there are debts that come from poor management, from gambling, from consuming alcohol or taking drugs. Even the rich can fall into debt, even rich countries...! We also know that the fundamental causes of indebtedness are to be found in how our society is organized. It's too easy to put all the blame on the shoulders of the indebted person : "No wonder she's in debt, she doesn't know how to manage her affairs". A decrease in income, the rising cost of living, job shortages and unemployment, an inadequate redistribution of wealth in transfer payments by governments, consumer-spending stimulated by advertizing, misleading credit : these are all factors that drive a person into debt. Let's look at some of these causes in greater detail.

"The cost of living is going up and I'm making less money"

7. The indebtedness of individuals is caused first of all by the fact that incomes are decreasing while the cost of living is increasing. According to a study by the Vanier Institute for the Family, the average family income, after taxes, dropped by 5% between 1989 and 1996. [4]

8. Job losses, unemployment, precarious or part-time work, the downward pressure on wages all explain to some degree the decrease in income of many of our fellow citizens. The employment insurance reform, for its part, has contributed significantly to the growing poverty of seasonal workers, particularly those involved in the forestry industries, fisheries and tourism. A majority of these workers no longer have a right to claim an allowance.

"I'm being cut everywhere... I just can't make it"

9. The withdrawal of the State from a number of areas has also contributed to the indebtedness of the poorest. To achieve the now famous "zero deficit", the different levels of government proceeded to reduce spending by privatizing services and by making important cuts in social assistance, employment insurance, education and healthcare. Ordinary people, however, could not solve their deficit by passing it on to others. They are in fact the last link in the chain of indebtedness.

"I'm being forced to choose between food and shelter"

10. Rent absorbs a good part of one's income. Hundreds of thousands of tenant households are faced each month with the terrible question "How am I going to pay the rent?". When your only source of income is a welfare cheque, or employment insurance, or an old age pension or the meagre wages from a precarious job, the situation is agonizing. This is particularly true when there are children involved.

11. In Quebec, 920,000 tenant households devote more than the standard 30% of their income to housing [5] and, as a result, many are forced into debt. This is particularly the case for women, for single-parent families, for persons living alone, for young people and for seniors. [6] When these persons have to stop eating in order to pay rent, debt is lurking at the door. Teachers report that more and more of their students are unable to concentrate because they are hungry.

"Buy now... pay in the year 2000"

12. Many people are seduced by consumer goods and get themselves deeply into debt. Highly-perfected advertizing strategies target these people, making them quite vulnerable to attractive offers of "incredible bargains" for which they will only have to pay much later. Credit is made easily available. But are we aware that the interest rate on credit cards from banks reaches as high as 18%? The interest rate on credit cards issued by retail stores can go as high as 28%! Surely that's an important cause of indebtedness.

13. Do we ever ask ourselves who in our society pays the highest interest rates on loans? The answer is the poorest persons : they don't have easy access to credit from banks and credit unions. It is they who are forced to rely on pawnbrokers and soon fall prey to usurious interest rates.

"And what if I won a million bucks..."

14. Everyday, thousands of people buy lottery tickets or go to a casino in the hope of becoming rich --- as if by magic. They bet on pure chance and accumulate huge debts, dreaming of someday hitting the jackpot.

Listening to the Word

15. The Judeo-Christian tradition teaches us that the God of Jesus Christ wants life in abundance for humanity. God is especially present wherever life is threatened, but also wherever the struggle for justice and for human dignity is being carried out. God cannot tolerate debts which crush human beings and disfigure them. Already, in the first Alliance with the people of Israel, God proclaimed through the voice of a prophet this solemn warning "There will not be any poor among you". Given the close relationship between poverty and indebtedness, can we not hear in today's context the following message "There will not be anyone unjustly crushed by debt among you!" [7]

16. It is noteworthy that on the occasion of a Jubilee year, in other words, every fifty years, this same God of Israel called upon the people to cancel debts, to grant slaves their freedom and to allow the earth to recover. [8] Worshipping the true God means committing oneself to cancelling debts. A passage from the prophet Isaiah clearly establishes the point : "Do you not know what is the fast that pleases me?... loosing unjust fetters... letting the oppressed go free... breaking every kind of yoke". [9] For many of our brothers and sisters, debts constitute a particularly heavy yoke!

17. Jesus clearly situated his mission within this movement of liberation. He identified himself with the poor and the excluded and he promised them a time of grace, a Jubilee year, that would transform their situation, not only at a material level, but also at the level of their dignity.

18. In the spirit of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus would seem to be saying to those who are unjustly crushed by debts : "Blessed are you who are struggling and who are overburdened with debt, for you will be released from your yoke." According to a translation that is very close to the original text, one of the seven petitions set out in the Our Father, states : "Release us from our debts as we ourselves have released those who were indebted to us". [10] Moreover, if one paraphrases a passage from the Gospel according to Matthew at chapter 25, one might very well hear this same Jesus proclaim : "I was in debt and you released me."

Major Questions

19. If we listen attentively to people who are overburdened with debt, can we not come to realize that, in today's market economy, there are new forms of slavery in operation? Are we still capable of sound indignation when we recognize that the current situation is totally unacceptable and that indebtedness has causes which can be corrected? Are we free enough to denounce, with others, social structures that generate scandalous inequalities and that render it impossible for certain debts to be paid off?

20. As members of Christian communities, do we have the courage to recognize and affirm that certain systems determining the distribution of goods are simply incompatible with God's vision? Are we willing to join in a broad movement of solidarity calling for a new society where wealth will be more fairly distributed? Or, on the contrary, will we walk on by, like the priest and the levite of the Parable of the Good Samaritan, ignoring the one who has fallen victim to indebtedness? [11]

21. The courses of action necessary to pull persons out of indebtedness are demanding. Our vision of society is at stake : government policies regarding employment, income security, social housing, interest rates on loans, taxation, etc. We must also improve the education of people and provide support to numerous initiatives helping excluded and indebted persons. Any action to bring about genuine change must be based upon sound information and analysis as well as upon solidarity with the victims of today's economy.

22. Almost anyone can take the following steps to bring about genuine change :

22.1 • Become better informed about the situation regarding indebtedness in your region. Identify the situations that lead to indebtedness and see how you can support those persons who are trying to cope with these situations. Take advantage of the May 1st celebration to speak with persons in your community about the delicate subject of indebtedness. Contact your local community education center, the groups offering help in preparing a budget, and other popular organizations in your region.

22.2 • Get involved in your local credit union to understand how loans are granted and then suggest ways by which indebted persons might be helped : interest-free credit pools, micro-projects, etc. Equip yourself to be able to call into question the financial institutions. For example, how faithful are credit unions to their social mission?

22.3 • Work with the Coalition promoting a law to eliminate poverty and the many other organizations working in favour of a basic legislative framework to overcome poverty.

22.4 • Sign the petition calling upon the Federal Government to regulate the interest charged on credit cards.

22.5 • Call upon our elected politicians to reinvest the government's first budget surpluses in the areas of healthcare, education, housing and social assistance to the poorest so that the basic needs of the population will be met.

22.6 • Support the National Coalition demanding that the employment insurance fund be used to benefit those who contributed to it.

22.7 • Support the struggle for pay equity and support the World March of Women for the Year 2000.

Conclusion

23. Invitations and opportunities to get more involved are not lacking. We must respond in accordance with our responsibilities and our charisms. May the God of hope accompany and support all men and women who are striving to improve, not only their own living conditions, but also those of their brothers and sisters who are being crushed by heavy debt!

24. The Jubilee of the Year 2000 is calling upon us all to open our hearts widely onto the world and to support the poorest countries' fair demand that wealthy countries and big international banks cancel their debts. Worldwide solidarity demands nothing less.
The Social Affairs Committee of the Assembly of the Bishops of Quebec

Members
Msgr Martin Veillette, president, Bishop of Trois-Rivières
Msgr Raymond Dumais, Bishop of Gaspé
Msgr Jean-Guy Hamelin, Bishop of Rouyn-Noranda
Msgr Brendan O'Brien, Bishop of Pembroke

Collaborators
Mr. Patrick Arsenault, Pastoral agent in Bonaventure
Ms. Louise Gagné, Sociologist, Montreal
Ms. Vivian Labrie, Facilitator, Carrefour de pastorale en monde ouvrier Quebec City
Mr. Florent Villeneuve, Social Action Office, Diocese of Chicoutimi
Ms. Francine Cabana, Assistant, Social Affairs, AECQ

Special Collaborator
Benoît Fortin ofm cap, with the collaboration of the Outaouais ACEF

English translation
Brian McDonough Social Action Office, Archdiocese of Montreal
Published by the Assembly of the Bishops of Quebec
Dépôt légal, 2e trimestre 1999
Bibliothèque nationale du Québec
ISBN 2-89279-057-3

[1] Quebec Bureau of Statistics, December 23, 1997.

[2] When indebtedness becomes unbearable, there remains but one solution : personal bankruptcy Personal bankruptcies have attained all-time highs in Canada : in 1996, there were 79,631 registered bankruptcies; this number amounts to a 22% increase from 1995. See the Trimestrial Consumer Bulletin, Industry Canada, October 1997.

[3] Homelessness is one of the dramatic features of indebtedness Persons forced to panhandle just to survive are a painful illustration of what it means to have lost everything. A vast study conducted in 1996 by Santé Québec confirmed that the number of persons who are homeless had doubled over a ten-year period. There are more than 28,214 homeless persons in Montreal and more than 11,295 in the Quebec City region.

[4] Referred to in the Montreal daily Le Devoir of February 12th 1999, at page A6.

[5] See "Dossier noir, Logement et pauvreté", FRAPRU, October 1998.

[6] Bulletin from the FRAPRU, no 82, dated February, 1999.

[7] Deuteronomy 15 :4

[8] Leviticus 25.

[9] Isaiah 58 :6.

[10] Matthew 6 :12.

[11] Luke 10 :29-37 at verses 31 and 3.