The Social Impact of the Credit Crunch

I don’t want to be a doom monger, and I am sure we are all sick and tired of hearing about the credit crunch and the recession etc, but how does it affect real lives? I mean, there you are in your well paid job, probably just come back from the restaurant after a meal with the family and thinking “it will never happen to me”.

Well, hopefully it may never do, but if you are willing to accept that it may and can make mental preparations for the awful possibility that it may happen to you then well done! 

From a social perspective, the effects of the credit crunch are already being evidenced. Housing repossessions are on the increase in the UK and people are having difficulty keeping up with their mortgages. Another factor is that the number of job losses is on the increase and this is expected to continue in 2009 (what fun!).

The social impact this has on people is very often not reported by the media. For instance, people who would normally go on holiday with their friends and attend social outings may no longer do so after losing their job. The impact of a credit crunch and recession is inevitably job losses. This affects the person being laid off not only financially, but in terms of self confidence and a feeling of hopelessness for some. Some people after being made redundant may never work again, due to their age or the industry they have worked in, which may be something they have been involved in all their life.

The credit crunch affects relationships generally, but also marriages. Husbands try to hold off telling their partners when they lose there jobs. The feeling of failure abounds and it also becomes a shock when it is not possible to find another job immediately. The credit crunch seems to hit men particularly hard,  as pride and status play their parts when he has to rely solely on his wife for their main income: “Traditionally, the man ‘provides’ and for a man to lose his job, it’s not just about money, it’s loss of status, which can be a huge knock to his confidence.” Steve Miller, stated in the Times Online on December 6th issue.

It can cause relationship breakdowns as: “There is also a real danger that the woman may become angry and resentful” it states in the same Times article. This may be due to women become the main breadwinner and also the need to perform duties at home, like cleaning, ironing and other household chores. The Times article points out a number of ways to assist couples through a crisis such as the credit crunch and the loss of a job.

The balance of power can shift in a relationship from an even situation where both partners have equal standing,  to that of a dominant partner i.e. the one with the job. This means the one losing the job feels dependant on the other resuting in fallen pride, hurt feelings, lack of purpose etc and harms the relationship.

So the moral of the story is, prepare yourself for the possibility of redundancy and discuss it with your spouse if the worst happens. Oh, and just because you are in that high flying job in the city, or you are a top IT manager don’t think you are immune. These types of jobs have already fallen to the axe, so be prepared! We can all go round with our eyes shut but just take a look around you folks, its happening and it’s real!

Apologies if this article spoils your day, but the reason I wrote it is that I know what can happen from direct experience! If you are prepared for the worst, then at least you can handle it and not “go under” with depression as some people do when it happens to them and they didn’t expect it.

Chao!