Half of 18 to 24-year-olds ‘in debt’

Almost half (48 per cent) of those in the 18 to 24-year-old age group are in debt, according to research from ClearDebt carried out through social networking site Facebook.

According to a survey of nearly 200 males and females in the age demographic, some 32 per cent expect never to be in need of a debt solution as they do not anticipate going into debt.

However, 21 per cent of those questioned though that in the next five to ten years debt was a definite possibility for them, the Facebook-led research found, meaning that debt management could be crucial for the 18 to 24 age group in the future.

“We found it worrying, that 48 per cent of the 18 to 24-year-olds we sampled were already in debt,” said Andrew Smith, marketing director of ClearDebt.

“Strikingly, there’s a big gender gap too with only 21 per cent of women believing they will never be in debt, compared with 40 per cent of men. Sadly, we believe the men are being rather over-optimistic.”

Slightly more females were also found to be in debt now than males, according to the research, with 50 per cent of women in the 18 to 24 age group indebted as opposed to 45 per cent of men.

Earlier this week, Barclaycard warned students heading to university in September to use credit cards responsibly.