Home > News > Debt advice

US: new law provides debt-free date More debt taken on than repaid in December Savings rise as consumers pay down debt Household debt `could trigger another downturn` More families could fall into debt with energy companies Recession ends Debt defaults lower than expected Britons take three months to clear Christmas debts Budgets to be `squeezed` in second half of 2010 Irish Reduce debt Teenagers concerned about parents` debt Homeowners reduce mortgage debt Advice issued to help people avoid Christmas debt Mortgage lending falls 10% in November Cost of new mortgage debt drops Families facing debt this winter `Upsurge` in homeowners struggling to service mortgage debt Cost of debt - CFA wants `level playing field` Debt news: Britons `more inclined` to spend than save Pre-Budget Report `fails to ease debt fears`

Student debt `has tripled since 2002`

02/11/2009

Today, the average student will graduate with £23,000 of debt - three times as much as was the case in 2002 - according to the recent Push Student Debt Survey.

Most of today`s graduates have to `contend with an avalanche of debt`, as well as an increasingly difficult job market. So says the Guardian, in an article which looks at how graduates are coping with the practical and psychological issues which debt can cause.

The article quotes a couple of recent graduates. One talks of putting most of her MA debt on a credit card, while another describes the feeling of living in a "culture of debt" in which her deteriorating finances "almost didn`t mean anything. You know you`re not the only one facing big debts - all of society is too."

Over the last ten years, according to Dr Ruth Caleb, Head of Counselling at Brunel University, there has been a significant rise in the number of students looking for help with their money worries. She noted that being in debt tends to lead to other problems too, such as `depression, social difficulties and conflict in relationships`.

"Many talk about their mounting debts," said Dr Caleb. "It`s a package, really: rising debts often come with other problems."

The article also points out that levels of debt among students vary from region to region and from course to course. In Scotland, for example, levels of debt have fallen. And people studying medicine can have £50,000 of debt, or even more.

---

Debt Advisers Direct offer free debt advice and a range of debt solutions, including debt management plans, debt consolidation loans and IVAs (Individual Voluntary Arrangements).

US: new law provides debt-free date 02/02/2010 - Thanks to a new law, credit card providers in the More debt taken on than repaid in December 01/02/2010 - According to figures from the Bank of England (BoE), in Savings rise as consumers pay down debt 29/01/2010 - According to a survey of 13,000 savers by ING Direct, Household debt `could trigger another downturn` 28/01/2010 - The high level of debt carried by the British public