Charities join forces to help young people learn solid financial lessons

Published on Friday 22 February 2008 20:25

TWO UK charities have teamed up to help young people find their way through the money maze without ending up out of pocket and deep in debt.

Citizens’ Advice and YouthNet are working together to provide money advice to 16- to 25-year-olds online using a variety of methods including podcasts, audio content and via mobile phones. The charities estimate that the project could reach as many as 500,000 young people and help ensure they’re in a better position to manage their money and make informed choices about their finances.

As well as helping with basic budgeting skills, the pioneering three-year project – funded by 300,000 from the HBOS Foundation – will help young people understand commonly misunderstood terms such as APR, so they can compare credit and understand what a loan might mean for them.

The two charities believe this will help young people to make more-informed choices and, therefore, they will be less likely to become victims of unscrupulous lenders. It will also help those in financial difficulties to tackle their problems effectively, making it less likely they will slip back into debt in the future.

Janet Roberts, grants manager at HBOS Foundation, said: “Citizens’ Advice has proven expertise in complex personal finance and legal matters, but is not known by young people as a service ‘for them’.

“YouthNet is expert in communicating with young people, and trusted by the thousands of young people who visit The Site.org every day. That’s why we funded this ground-breaking programme working with these two charities, so that they can combine their areas of expertise and support and advise young people on the whole range of money issues that affect their lives.”

It is not just youngsters who need help with debt as figures out this week from Scottish personal debt solutions company newtomorrow.com have revealed.

The average 61- to 65-year-old calling newtomorrow.com for debt advice has 43,760 of unsecured debt, compared with the average caller who is 41 and owes 30,334. The 66-plus group has an average debt of 35,789.

This is bad news considering pensioners aged 66 and over have the second-lowest average monthly income at 1,385 and spend 1,009 of that. However, at 376 a month, they don’t have the lowest disposable income – 18- to 25-year-olds take that dubious honour on 285 a month.

Ian Wright, managing director of newtomorrow.com, said: “It is worrying that older people who are calling us for advice have the highest debts.

“These figures paint a bleak picture of people who are still saddled with debt at a stage in their life when they would have hoped to be free from money worries.”