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Issue Description
The global financial crisis has forced many of us to reassess how we handle our finances, with many people looking to improve their financial literacy as they navigate their way through a recession for the first time. This book examines issues including spending and saving, types of bank account, using credit and dealing with debt. There is also a chapter dedicated to young people’s money, including student finances, planning for the future and budgeting.
The information comes from a wide range of sources and includes government reports and statistics, newspaper reports, features, magazine articles and surveys, literature from lobby groups and charitable organisations.
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Key Facts
- A single adult with no children now needs to earn at least £13,900 a year before tax to reach the minimum living standard. This is a £500 rise from 2008; nearly half of this extra income is needed for the rising cost of food. (page 6)
- Four out of ten people in Britain have no pension provision whatsoever, according to a survey published today, as fears grow that an entire generation of workers faces poverty in retirement. (page 8)
- Total UK personal debt at the end of June 2009 stood at £1,458bn. This has slowed further to 1.2% in the last 12 months which equates to an increase of ~£14.35bn (the increase was ~£116bn in January 2008). (page 9)
- The highest levels of debt are in the south of England but the over-60s in Wales have one of the highest debt levels in the UK at £35,947. (page 10)
- A life in debt reveals that Citizens Advice Bureaux debt clients owe an average of £16,971 – two-thirds more than in 2001, and the equivalent of almost 18 times their total monthly household income. It will take them an average of 93 years to pay off the money they owe at a rate they can afford. (page 11)
- Four out of ten consumers say they would rather pay for all transactions by card, according to research by payment solutions company RBS WorldPay. (page 15)
- In 1998, 80% of payments were made by cash, as opposed to 66% in 2008. (page 17)
- Six out of ten university applicants from lower socio-economic backgrounds surveyed by the National Union of Students claimed that the recession had affected their choice of course or institution this year. The survey, published last month, shows that while 15% of all students surveyed chose universities where they could live at home, this was true of 27% of poorer students. (page 28)
- The average expenditure of undergraduate students in their first year of study has increased by 12 per cent since 2004/05. This was driven by an increase of 68 per cent in the cost of participating in Higher Education – mainly due to the introduction of variable fees in 2006. (page 32)
- An alarming 18.3% of 16 to 25 year olds are unemployed. (page 34)
- A poll revealed over two-thirds of teenagers (70%) would like to be taught more about finance at school. (page 36)
- A study in 2007 by one personal finance organisation found that half of young people were in debt by the age of 17 – a statistic that’s even more alarming in view of the global credit crisis. (page 37)
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Table of Contents
Chapter One: The Economy
The global financial crisis, Understanding the recession, How the credit crunch began, The recession in numbers, How to spot the end of a recession, Cost of living.
Chapter Two: Managing Money
Families cut spending by largest amount in decades, It pays to save, No pension plans for 40%, Debt facts and figures, Debt problems spread to the more affluent, Research warns of deepening debt crisis, Forms of payment, Boosting credit card limits, Cashless society favoured by four in ten shoppers, Report states that cash is still king, but for how long?, Women and financial independence.
Chapter Three: Young People’s Money
What age can I work?, Younger generation look to brighter financial futures, Aviva identifies ‘the forever generation’, The Budget 2009, Banks and building societies, How to be a prudent student, Budgeting, Student income and expenditure 2007/08, Young, jobless, broke: today’s lost generation, Two-thirds of teens demand better financial education, Money talks.
Key Facts
Glossary
Index
Additional Resources
Acknowledgements
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The Study Guide for: Money and Finances - Volume 180
Each book in the Issues series has a study guide. These four-page guides provide a variety of discussion points and other activities to suit a wide range of ability levels and interests.
Publisher: Independence Educational Publishers
Price: £1.95
ISBN: 978 1 86168 520 9