“There is a small army of sellers of ‘dodgy’ financial deals which target out youngest people.
“Words can not describe just how despicable this sort of behaviour is. It means that tens of thousands of young people starting out in their working life being saddled with debts which could force them to take years to get out of their mounting problems”, Dai Davies said.
Dai Davies has discovered the facts that our young people are targeted by these so-called ‘financial salesmen’ in these ways:
- "They bombard them by making credit very easy to get – and with high payback percentages – very hard to pay back .
- "90 per cent of young people questioned were in debt by the age of 21.
- "Almost half of 18 - 24 year olds owe more than £2,000 and one in five owe more than £10,000. Student loans are part of the issue, but so are low wages, and difficulty in finding work.
- "Fact: 70 percent of 18 - 24 year olds are in debt overall.
- "For the most socially disadvantaged young people that percentage is much higher.
- "Almost three quarters of those interviewed ( a survey of 4,000 young people) have less than £15 per week after bills and debt payments. And more than a third (37 per cent) had less than £5 per week.
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“Another major cause”, Mr. Davies said, “is that what has been created is a low-wage economy underpinned by young people”.
“Any right-thinking society faced with these facts would, surely, conclude that there simply has to be the introduction – not of a MINIMUM wage for young people – but a maximum wage. That way those who deliberately mis-use the labour of young people for their own financial gain simply could not get away with it”.
“These are the hidden facts”, Mr Davies said.
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“The national minimum wage for under 18s is £3.53
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“For those aged 18-21 it’s £4.77
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“It’s £5.73 for those aged 22 and over.
“This low wage trap leaves hundreds of thousands of young people living in increasing debt and poverty. Young people receive less income support, are ineligible for tax credits, and are restricted to a lower level of housing benefit called the Single Room Rent.
“The MAIN fact is that low income is by far the biggest underlying cause for much of the debt taken on. That - and the deliberate targeting of our young people by the inept spivs and speculators who have taken our economy to the edge.
“If we can bail them out to the tune of more than One Trillion pounds of taxpayers money then we MUST do much, much, more to tackle the shameful levels of child poverty and young peoples debt which is really crippling this country”, Dai Davies said.