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Young people expect to borrow beyond 40: what to do if you’re in debt

Joanna Faith
Written By:
Joanna Faith
Posted:
Updated:
28/08/2018

More than a third of young people think they will still be in debt by the time they reach 40, a study suggests.

A survey of more than 4,000 18-30-year olds by charity Young Women’s Trust found one in five are in debt all the time.

A quarter have worse debt levels now than last year and a third don’t think they’ll be out of debt any time soon, with many borrowing from their parents to get by.

Young women are more likely to be in a difficult financial situation than men with 40% struggling to make their cash last to the end of the month, compared to 29% of young men.

Young women are also more likely to be jobless or trapped in low-paid or insecure work.

As well as relying on the bank of mum and dad, the young people surveyed said they went into their overdraft, worked additional hours, used credit cards and sold their belongings to make their cash last to the end of the month.

Young Women’s Trust chief executive, Dr Carole Easton, said: “Young women remain more likely to be out of work, on low pay or in insecure work, which makes it hard to make ends meet. It’s therefore no wonder they are more likely to be in debt and see little hope of escaping that in future.

“Young Women’s Trust is asking the government to give young women the right skills and support to find jobs, ensure decent and flexible jobs are available, and extend the National Living Wage to under-25s, so they are paid the same amount for the same work.”

Struggling with debt? What to do

If you’re in debt, don’t bury your head in the sand.

There are free resources available to help you:

Citizens Advice: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/how-we-provide-advice/advice/

National Debtline: https://www.nationaldebtline.org/

Step Change: https://www.stepchange.org/