Survey shows young people more likely to be in debt. 1 in 5 in constant debt

Recent research from the Young Women’s Trust have found that levels of debt are getting worse for young people.

Many say they see no escape from their debt problems.

Out of a survey of 4000 young people, more than one in three said they fear they will still be in debt when the reach the age of 40.

The survey of 18-30-year olds by the charity found one in five are in debt all the time.

The Charity said that young women are more likely to be in debt all the time with 40% struggling to make their money last to the end of each month, while only 29% of men claimed to be in that position.

With one in five young people in debt all the time the figures show that debt levels for around 25% of those young people are higher than they were last year. 36% did not think it likely they would be free of debt anytime soon.

One of the reasons young women are more affected is they are more likely to be unemployed or trapped in low paid or insecure work.

Apart from borrowing from their parents or family members the survey suggests young people went into their overdrafts, used credit cards and sold their belonging to make extra money and were also working additional hours.

The Chief executive of Young Women’s Trust, 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 that 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.”