A new poll exposes the 30-point empathy gap in how Canadians judge insolvency
The same Canadians who morally condemn bankruptcy in the abstract largely refuse to apply that judgment to someone they actually know — a contradiction a new national poll puts into sharp relief.
The survey found 41 percent describe bankruptcy as the result of poor personal choices, and an equal share consider it equivalent to breaking a financial promise.
Yet only 23 percent say they would view a close friend or family member differently after a bankruptcy filing — a gap of nearly 30 percentage points.
The most consequential divide, however, runs generational.
Nearly half of boomers — 47 percent — view bankruptcy as a loophole to avoid paying what is owed. Among Gen Z, that figure drops to 21 percent.
On whether debtors should face consequences before having debts forgiven, 52 percent of boomers agree, versus 23 percent of Gen Z.
Stack attributes the gap to the economic conditions Gen Z entered adulthood in.
He said people are no longer working toward future comfort — they're working to pay off “yesterday's pleasure.”
Men are also more likely than women to moralize insolvency: 45 percent say bankruptcy results from poor personal choices, versus 37 percent of women, and 43 percent call non-payers untrustworthy, compared to 32 percent of women.
The finding with the sharpest policy implications is this: 51 percent of Canadians — the only majority in the survey — say people who file for bankruptcy should have limited access to borrowing in the future.
That position works against the purpose of bankruptcy law, which exists to let individuals discharge unmanageable debt and rebuild.
Forty-four percent, meanwhile, say using bankruptcy law to eliminate debt is a legitimate financial decision.
Stack said insolvency carries an unfair moral stigma — and until that changes, people will keep being punished “for doing exactly what the law allows them to do.”
|
Statement |
All |
Men |
Women |
Gen Z |
Millennials |
Gen X |
Boomers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Bankruptcy = poor personal choices |
41% |
45% |
37% |
38% |
36% |
38% |
48% |
|
Bankruptcy = breaking a promise |
41% |
42% |
40% |
31% |
36% |
40% |
51% |
|
Non-payers are untrustworthy |
37% |
43% |
32% |
38% |
39% |
32% |
39% |
|
Bankruptcy = a loophole |
35% |
36% |
34% |
21% |
28% |
34% |
47% |
|
Should face consequences first |
40% |
43% |
37% |
23% |
34% |
37% |
52% |
|
Should have limited future borrowing |
51% |
53% |
48% |
44% |
48% |
49% |
57% |
|
Bankruptcy is a legitimate decision |
44% |
46% |
41% |
40% |
48% |
41% |
42% |
|
Would view a friend/family differently |
23% |
24% |
22% |
27% |
23% |
19% |
24% |
Net agreement. Survey of 1,501 Canadians conducted by Angus Reid Forum. Source: Shawn Stack, Licensed Insolvency Trustee.
Debt & Moral Perception in Canada is a two-part national study commissioned by licensed insolvency trustee Shawn Stack and conducted by the Angus Reid Forum among 1,501 Canadians.
