Lenders entice young into unaffordable debt

by Gill Montia

Story link: Lenders entice young into unaffordable debt

YouthNet, the charity that focuses on issues affecting young people, has completed a survey in which over two-thirds of respondents claimed they had been encouraged to take up debt they did not want or could not afford.

Around 68% of the 16 to 24 year-olds questioned had been encouraged to take out credit, the majority being offered the chance of a store card when they were out shopping.

Meanwhile, 77% of this group also received offers of credit in the post and 49% had been approached by email.

Thirty-seven percent said they had received offers of cash by telephone and 46% had been stopped in the street by someone acting on behalf of a credit provider.

Forty-seven percent of the young people questioned had experience of debt problems and for over half of this group, financial worries had impacted on their mental health.

Fifty-five percent of respondents said that securing credit had been easy and 65% would prefer the process to be more difficult.

YouthNet conducted its Penny for your Thoughts survey to support its work with finance and young people, which receives funding from the HBOS Foundation.

The charity offers financial guidance online, through podcasts and mobile phone audio content.