Rise in calls on financial distress to care groups

A NUMBER of support organisations have reported a rise in calls from people in financial distress.

The Samaritans say the proportion of all calls to its three main centres from people with financial anxieties has doubled from one in 20 in the autumn to one in 10 at the end of last year.

Separately, the single-parent support charity, One Family, yesterday said it had received an “influx of calls” to its helpline about social welfare entitlements and redundancy. Both bodies are embarking on advertising campaigns to publicise the availability of their helplines, with particular reference to economic worries.

Karen Kiernan, director of One Family, said: “We are aware that our clients are concerned about proposed forthcoming Government cuts, some of which are specific to lone parent income supports.” One Family has announced a radio and print advertising campaign to raise awareness of difficulties of one-parent families in recessionary times and to publicise its helpline.

A spokeswoman for the Samaritans said research it had carried out, though limited, told a telling picture. It was carried out over two week-long periods at the Dublin, Cork and Belfast branches. “It is really a snap-shot for us and it shows that where about one in 20 calls were about financial issues earlier in 2008, in the week between the 17th and 23rd of November the proportion was one in 10. Of these, 41 per cent of contacts worried about employment, 32 per cent were concerned about housing and 25 were anxious about debt.”

She said further research on callers’ concerns would be carried out next month. Detailed quarterly statistics analysis for Samaritans would be published in early April.