There has never been more over indebted people on the European continent than in 2018. Luxembourg, a country among the richest, seems far from this concern. Nonetheless, the Grand-Duchy is not left unscathed; despite high salaries, the living cost and especially the real estate prices are particularly high. Although the vast majority of over indebtedness people are disadvantaged members of society, it also affects employees and senior executives.
The consequences of over indebtedness are humanly and economically dramatic but the taboo existing on this subject makes them difficult to quantify. Still, many stakeholders are affected : associations and social offices which manage the files, employers who deal with their employees’ wage withholding or even companies which face unpaid dividends. Over-indebtedness therefore is subject of concern and the numerous actors involved have to mobilize and act in a harmonised way in order to tackle this social issue.
The main issues
- A complex subject that requires a holistic approach
- A preventive approach not sufficiently efficient due to the lack of collaboration between actors
- A taboo subject and a stereotypical image of over indebted people
- Lack of financial literacy among the Luxembourg population
Our approach
We believe that private companies, public organisations and social and solidarity-based companies would benefit from a more collaborative approach to tackle the issue of over indebtedness at each stage : from prevention to support for people in financial distress.
It is from this perspective that IMS Luxembourg, in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour, Employment and the Social and Solidarity Economy, the ULESS and 6zero1, organised a cycle of co-creation workshops on the issue of over-indebtedness. IMS member companies, social companies, non-profit organisations and public organisations gathered in an environment conducive to collaborative work and together they imagined concrete and innovative solutions.
In order to maintain the dynamic initiated in 2017 during the co-creation cycle, IMS Luxembourg has launched a new inter-company working group in 2019 specifically dedicated to the prevention of over-indebtedness.
In complementarity with existing actors and solutions in Luxembourg, the group is addressing the challenges of early detection of people in financial difficulties and budgetary and financial education.
The aim of the group? To collectively design solutions adapted to the Luxembourg situation meeting the expectations and needs of companies affected by over-indebtedness.
The projects imagined by the participants
MOBILE APPLICATION FOR FINANCIAL LITERACY
Solution: change the budget management and financial literacy in a positive way through the development of a fun financial literacy mobile app
PREVENTION TOOL FOR OVER-INDEBTEDNESS
Solution: developing an analysis tool that would allow organisations to detect risky profiles among the customers or employees in order to prevent over-indebtedness situations through a budgetary support
NATIONAL AWARENESS CAMPAIGN
Solution: national awareness-raising campaign shattering the taboo on over-indebtedness and encouraging people with financial difficulties to turn to the competent services
