Day without Debt casts light on settlement problems

November 17 has been dubbed the Nationwide Day without Debt. An increasing number of Poles have a problem with settling payments on time. The Provident Barometer showed that 20 percent of Poles take credit loans regardless of education, employment or location. Polish Radio broadcast a discussion with Dr. Tomasz Baran, Institute of Personality Psychology at the University of Warsaw. Poles' lack of experience as well as a keeping up with the Jones' mentality was outlined as one of the reasons for debt spiraling out of control. Baran held firm though that financial institutions are not responsible for the decision to take on debt, while the program host Krzysztof Grzybowski pressed an ethical question, asking if credit advertisements should be curbed. Michał Kociankowski from the Polish Society of Market and Opinion Researchers (PTBRiO) is quoted in an IAR article that the problem of debt is often hidden from relatives and contributes to stress and the insecurity of family life.