Young people face financial hardship fight

The Liberal Democrats’ economics spokesman Vince Cable said that the amount of young people in debt is “extremely worrying” and called for better financial education.

“The government’s university tuition fees, high house prices and the aggressive marketing of credit are all contributing factors,” said Mr Cable, blaming new pressures for making youngsters more likely to be in debt than their parents.

“Although there is some financial education and help for people when they are in difficulty, the focus should be on tackling this problem before it occurs.”

His comments come in response to research by uSwitch.com which found that a fifth of 18 to 29-year-olds are permanently overdrawn.

For Mr Cable, this showed “the pressing need” to help young people and to improve their financial education.

He also called for more debt support and advice centres to help those who are living beyond their means, before it becomes too much of a problem.