The account is overdrawn, the monthly bills have not been paid and still they keep piling up. Diakonie Deutschland -through a co-published press release- revealed that more and more people in Germany find themselves in financial need as a result from the COVID-19 pandemic. A survey made by the Working Group Debt Counselling of the Associations (AG SBV) showed a significant increase in the first half of 2021 of requests for financial advice from non-profit debt counselling centers. A total of 461 advice centers took part in the study, including almost 300 from Diakonie Deutschland and Caritas.

Maria Loheide, Head of Social Policy at Diakonie Deutschland, explains that the “increasing demand for social debt counselling is alarming. At the beginning of the pandemic, many people were able to keep themselves afloat financially through reserves or privately borrowing money. However, now, many can no longer compensate for their over-indebtedness.”

Non-profit social debt counselling in Germany is free, but limited by law to certain groups. Diakonie Deutschland and Caritas are calling for counselling accessibility to be expanded to include other target groups, such as employed, short-term employed and self-employed people.

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