Single women in South Africa seem to be struggling with their debt more than their single male counterparts, according to debt counselling and consolidation firm DebtBusters.

Unsecured debt refers to a loan or credit agreement that does not have an asset, such as a house or car, serving as collateral for payment of the debt.

In a statement, DebtBusters said the debt these women had was not usually retail related - rather, that unsecured debt had been used to obtain cash to try to make ends meet. 

Recent statistics from DebtBusters’s national client base show that single women under debt counselling have more unsecured debt than single men under debt counselling.

According to DebtBusters' data, out of all the debt that single females under debt counselling have, 71% is unsecured, whereas only 55% of debt belonging to single male clients is unsecured.

The majority of the unsecured debt belonging to single women is attributed to categories as personal loans, payday loans and credit card debt. According to DebtBusters, this could imply that single women are taking out these types of loans because they are not financially making it to month-end, and are opting to take out unsecured loans as a way to make ends meet.