25 February 2008
Contemporary women are increasingly under pressure to put more purchases onto credit cards, it has been suggested.
Louise Brittain, head of personal insolvencies at accountants Baker Tilly, told the Observer that some women are falling victim to "Madame Bovary syndrome".
Women with this state of mind have grown so accustomed to looking good and going out whenever they want that they do not think twice about using credit, she explained.
"Add this to the bar being raised on what women expect to spend on socialising and their appearance and this leaves many women in their 20s and 30s not thinking twice about overspending," Ms Brittain told the publication.
The comments come after debt consultancy firm Thomas Charles warned consumers against taking out store cards to pay for purchases.
And uSwitch research has found that those who use store cards end up paying an average of 62% more interest than consumers using credit cards from high street banks.