Brits are uncomfortable talking about money and debt. Can comedy change that?

In November 1976, Swedish pop sensations ABBA coined a rhyme. “Money, money, money,” belts singer Anni-Frid Lyngstad, on a track of the same name. “Must be funny.”

The immortal line – which reverberates through disco halls and karaoke booths still – is undeniably catchy. But is it true? Comedian Mark Simmons certainly hopes so.

“Money is very taboo,” Simmons – who recently penned a finance joke booklet – tells Big Issue. “But when you use humour, you can break down the barriers and stigma surrounding it.”

If you’ve ever squirmed through a discussion about salaries or rent, you’ll know this already: Britain does not like to talk about money.

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A growing body of research reflects this collective disinclination. According to StepChange Debt Charity, more than one in four (27%, of 15 million) adults in the UK would be unlikely to speak to a friend, partner or family member about debt.

A separate study from money app Plum shows that nearly half (49%) of people avoid talking about their personal finances where possible, with 20% saying it makes them feel uncomfortable.

“When it comes to why [people don’t talk about money], I think embarrassment is high on the list,” Simmons says. “And I think the possibility of starting an argument, if you’re just picking up finances with a loved one or something. So people just leave it alone it as much as possible.”

‘Personal debt’ is the most avoided topic in the UK, Plum analysis suggests – more avoided than Donald Trump, Brexit, migration, and Botox. Yet some 12.8 million UK adults are indebted.

And according to Step Change, ‘not talking’ about debt strengthens a mistaken assumption that financial difficulty is always within an individual’s control.

Stepchange asked people what they thought was the single most common cause of problem debt in the UK. While the most common response was the cost-of-living increase (28%), respondents placed gambling (7%) and drugs (5%) as the fourth and sixth most common reason respectively.

The real figures are much lower. Gambling is the main reason for debt among just 2% of StepChange clients with drugs at 0.3%. 

“[This] polling shows how deeply ingrained negative attitudes towards indebtedness are,” said Vikki Brownridge, chief executive officer at StepChange.

“Debt can happen to anyone, and for a multitude of reasons. And while it can be overwhelming and incredibly stressful, it’s important that people know not only that there is support out there, but that it’s ok to reach out for help.”

Simmons echoes this: “There’s always help out there. There’s always advice – no matter what position you’re in.”

It’s not just debt that makes the public conversationally uncomfortable. One in 10 (10%) Brits can’t remember when they last reviewed their savings options and 11% say they never have.

Simmons wishes he’d learned about ISAs earlier, for example.

“I was looking into what I’d need to do to buy a place, and whereas I was doing it, I was just discovering all these things that I didn’t know about that would have really helped,” he said.

“So, for example there’s a thing called a lifetime ISA. If I’d known about that, I would have been four grand up on the deposit. I was like, well, literally no one told me. But then people don’t talk about things like this, really, do they?”

According to Bank of England data, more than £300bn is lying dormant in non-interest-bearing accounts with 15% of household cash savings currently sitting idle in easy access and flexible accounts where no interest is being earned. As a result, households are losing out potentially on almost £15bn of annual interest.

“My mum – and we laugh about this a lot now, because I’m so like her, I’m so careful with money, but my mum and I would never want to do anything risky with money,” Simmons said.

“So, she’d never want to go on holiday in case she needed to get back and the washing machine would need fixing. And I’m the same, I’d worry about putting money anywhere I couldn’t access immediately. But that isn’t always a helpful attitude for saving.”

Hence the comedy book, authored in collaboration with Plum. According to Plum, more than half (52%) of people said they’d find it easier to talk about uncomfortable subjects if humour was used to broach them (compared to just 5% who said it wouldn’t).      

Simmons has the comic chops for the task: last year, he won the Funniest Joke at the Edinburgh Fringe (for a nautical one-liner: “I was going to sail around the globe in the world’s smallest ship but I bottled it.”)

Making finance funny was a daunting – but not insurmountable – task. Out of context, the jokes may seem a little punny – an example: “My grandad got into art when he retired, every week he draws his pension.” But Simmons does think it can get people talking.

“Definitely as a nation we use humour in all kinds of situations to make us feel better about it,” he said.

“Certainly my family have always done that, if it’s an illness in the family or anything, we always try to keep spirits up by making jokes and things like that. And maybe that’s one of the reasons I’ve gone into comedy as well.”

“When it comes to money, I think it’s good to use jokes to get people talking about it. It makes people aware that that every that they’re not alone. If you know that other people are struggling, it doesn’t seem as embarrassing.”

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