More respondents to DebtBusters’ 2026 Money-Stress Tracker are carrying debt-repayment burdens that the company regards as unsustainable, while the survey also points to a gap between repayment pressure and respondents’ perceived need for help.
More than half of respondents spend at least 40% of their take-home pay on debt repayments, up from 48% last year, while 40% said they struggle to pay all the debt they owe each month. Yet 29% said they do not need help because they are “not over-indebted”, and half said they do not need debt counselling.
DebtBusters regards spending less than 30% of take-home pay on debt repayments as manageable, 30% to 40% as a “danger zone”, and more than 40% as unsustainable. The calculation…