As the UK struggles to move under thousands of pounds worth of personal debt for each household, it appears that we may have passed a culture of debt on to our children.
A recent report commissioned by Barclays Money Skills suggests that a third of British teenagers don’t consider monies spent on credit cards to be ‘real’ spending a worrying stat for a country trying to cut down on its levels of personal debt.
It is easy to understand how this attitude may have been transmitted as Brits in their millions racked up unsecured borrowing across credit cards, personal loans and store cards during the late 90’s and early naughties. With our children watching our every step, it is hardly surprising that their view of credit cards is the same as ours was. A kind of ‘tomorrow’ approach, where we think that everything will kind of sort itself out in the end and the debt will be magically repaid!
- The report also stated that 34% regularly ran out of money!
- 13% were constantly out of cash!
- and perhaps surprisingly a third rely on their parents for regular handouts in order to survive!
- Only one third?
With this being the case, it does seem to ring true that very few teenagers reach financial independence prior to potentially moving out of the family home.
- Of further concern should be the fact that 90% suggested they solely relied on advice from their friends and family.
- With only 3% commenting that their place of education had helped.
Perhaps it is no surprise that in listening to us parents that so many are struggling to attain a decent level of financial understanding. What with us being such masters of the art of fiscal management!
Somewhat reassuring was the fact that ¾ of those surveyed had made some kind of savings during the past twelve months, albeit these funds were mostly used for gadgets and clothes. But then again, some savings are better than no savings. A fact that I keep telling myself as besides the princely sum of £1000 that I placed into an ISA recently, I currently have no other savings to speak of.
To help this shocking state of affairs and genuinely to their credit, Barclays have recently announced a trio of partnerships with youth charities designed to improve the fiscal skills of up to 1 million young people. At a time when the banks are being given some considerable stick (not least from this blog) such a move is commendable.
Action for Children, the National Skills Academy for Financial Services and the National Youth Agency are the charities involved and the scheme is due to target youngsters who are out of work or in education / training, educating across a range of financial disciplines including budgeting, spending, saving and avoiding debt.
If however this financial training has come a little late for you and your own little personal debt mountain has already been created from the costs of being a teenager and in particular a student in the 21st century, then don’t worry, help is at hand.
- Here at Lewis Alexander, we have debt management consultants to take your call.
- Before you speak to us, it would help us if you can write down how much you owe, who you owe it to, details of any savings and details of your regular income.
By understanding your current position our financial consultants will be able to develop a plan of action that suits your current circumstance. Rather than force certain debt solutions to fit your individual set of circumstances, we prefer to understand the issues that you are facing before recommending the best course of action.
So call today and see if we can help you to improve your financial health.
Call 0800 018 6868 in confidence, your call is FREE from a UK landline.
