Three years ago Youthnet surveyed young people asking what was their single greatest fear. Around 14 per cent answered death – their own or that of someone close to them. Around the same proportion said [...]]]> Death no longer heads the list of young people’s greatest fear. Under 25s are now far more terrified by debt.

Three years ago Youthnet surveyed young people asking what was their single greatest fear. Around 14 per cent answered death – their own or that of someone close to them. Around the same proportion said their greatest fear was financial insecurity and debt. The researchers were understandably struck by the powerful concern about money. “This could be a reflection of the current financial climate,” they observed.

Yeah, well it’s a lot worse now. Repeating the survey this summer Youthnet found that 24 per cent now list debt as their greatest fear. Death was singled out by only 4 per cent.

The online survey was completed by 1,101 respondents aged 16 to 25 living in the UK.

Safeguard privacy online, says the charity. Don’t use an email address [...]]]> Debt collectors harass people, by phone and by personal visits. But don’t let them harass you online. That’s the message behind new tips from debt counselling charity CCCS. It says it has anecdotal evidence of collectors using social media to locate and track clients.

Safeguard privacy online, says the charity. Don’t use an email address to correspond with debt collectors. And don’t accept friend or follower requests from people you don’t know. Sound advice and a good reminder to young people, whether they have debt problems or not.

See the difference between what people think causes debt, and what really does—in a neat graphic.

The light green bars show what people surveyed thought was the  biggest cause of financial difficulties.

The reality is shown in dark green.

The publishers,  the Consumer Credit Counselling Service, say that nearly half the debt problems of their [...]]]>

See the difference between what people think causes debt, and what really does—in a neat graphic.

The light green bars show what people surveyed thought was the  biggest cause of financial difficulties.

The reality is shown in dark green.

The publishers,  the Consumer Credit Counselling Service, say that nearly half the debt problems of their clients are actually caused by work issues such as redundancy, reduced working hours or a pay cut. Life issues, such as divorce, bereavement and illness, are another common cause. Overspending is the main cause of debt in only 10 per cent of cases.

Provided by cccs.co.uk

More discussion of this, and a fuller breakdown at the CCCS website.