Debt forces young people back to mum and dad

Around 4.3 million people between the ages of 25 and 50 fall into this category as they cannot afford to live alone, online dating company Parship.com has claimed.

According to the survey, 40 per cent of single people found it too expensive to get onto the housing ladder and some could not even afford the “unrealistic” rent on one-bedroom flats.

Debt levels were said to have helped force young people back to their parents as over half of those who live at home owe between £10,000 and £20,000, while a fifth owed between £20,000 and £50,000 on credit card debt and loans.

News comes after the Foundation for Credit Counselling last week said that clients aged between 18 and 24 owed an average of £15,079.

Rising debt levels such as these means that owning a property is now a distant dream to many, particularly men, as a quarter of bachelors lived with parents compared to only 15 per cent of single women.