According to research by the Insolvency Service, men are more likely to become bankrupt than women, with average debts of around £46,000. The report, ‘Characteristics of Bankruptcy’ revealed the age, gender, average debts and number of creditors for bankrupts in England and Wales over a four-year period between 2001 and 2005. Men represented 61% of those who became bankrupt in 2005. This was down from 68% in 2001. The report showed that the average age of bankrupts fell from 43 to 41 in the four-year period.
Our view
Many bankrupties are business related i.e. businesses that fail. This means that houses get reposessed and more. Therefore, given that it is normally men that will run a business and provide for family, it is logical that there are a greater degree of men than women facing bankruptcy.
In addition, we suggest that many actually put assets in their wives names, so as to avoid them being taken into account in a bankruptcy proceeding.