debtors' prison
Jail for owing
A debtors' prison was a jail where people were confined for failing to pay their debts—a practice largely abolished in Western countries by the mid-19th century.
The term now appears mainly in historical contexts or as a rhetorical warning against punitive debt collection: Critics say aggressive student loan policies are creating a new debtors' prison.
- workhousesLabor-based relief institutions
- bankruptcy lawStatutes governing debt discharge
- peonageDebt-based forced labor
- poorhousesShelters for the destitute
- poor lawsLegislation for destitute aid
family separation · indentured servitude · credit systems · economic inequality · Victorian era · Charles Dickens · labor exploitation · poverty trap · serfdom · wage garnishment · monetary penalties · contract enforcement · urban poverty · asset forfeiture · predatory lending · human rights advocacy · criminal justice reform · medieval justice
debtors' prisonfinancial freedom
solvency · wealth · prosperity · debt-free · affluence
debtors' prisonmaximum security prison
Highest-level detention facility
debtors' prisondebt forgiveness
Cancellation of amounts owed
bankruptcy protection · debt relief · jubilee · debt cancellation · fresh start
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