Since the late 1970s, student, mortgage, and medical debt have continued to rise in line with lowered public spending and the privatization of key services by Western governments. Gouzoulis shows how working households beholden to these economic burdens are prevented from demanding better working conditions and pay.

By tracing the link between household financialization and workers' ability to unionise and take action, Gouzoulis reveals how today's financialized capitalism is sustained, and offers a radical plan on how unions can push back through collaboration and collective action to defend workplace democracy.