UK debt on the rise again for the old and young alike
Posted on 23. Jun, 2006 by Cashzilla in lifestyle
Surprise, surprise. I go away for a while, and there is an announcement from the Consumer Credit Counselling Service that levels of ‘extreme debt’ in the UK are worsening. Now I don’t want to draw any obvious connection there, but the timing seems a bit coincidental don’t you think. Well now I am back, so the 280,000 CCCS customers aged between 40 and 59 who had the highest levels of debt – owing an
average of £34,456, can stop worrying.
Obviously I am just being flippant here, so no emails saying how big my ego is, well maybe just a few.
The CCCS has announced that the amount of money owed by people over 60 who contacted the group had soared by 25% to an average of £33,658. There was also an increase in the number of young people struggling
with their debts. More 18 to 24-year-olds were found to owe an average of £15,079 in 2005, compared with £11,935 in 2006.
Could this be correlated to parents trying to bail out their debt ridden student offspring?
Related personalfinanosaurus posts:
Steve
Jun 28th, 2006
Hi,
That’s an interesting connection you make there about older people supporting their student children. I’m sure it plays a part but I suspect the 40-60s are just in debt so much because they want to borrow against their increased house values to enjoy life having struggled through the years of bringing up their kids.
By the way, I think you have a typo in the 18-24 figures. It should be £11,935 in 2003 I think.
James Scurlock
Dec 8th, 2006
I’m a writer based in the US, and I’m writing an article for a major UK newspaper on personal finance. If anyone has a story they’d like to share about a debt situation, please contact me at james@trueworks.us. You can also visit my website at http://www.trueworks.us.
James