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30 June 2006
Personal finance education at schools will be "a major step forward" in dealing with society's debt problems, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has said.
Director of the retail themes division at the FSA, Vernon Everitt, said that people were becoming consumers earlier and that societal problems were making it very difficult for people to stay out of debt.
"People simply don't plan ahead. Unless we get more into intervention rather than cure we will get into significant problems in the future," he said.
Many people are calling for financial education as a remedy to growing levels of debt in the UK, with the Consumer Credit Counselling Service last week warning that the number of its clients in extreme debt of more than £100,000 had increased to 2.7 per cent from 1.4 per cent in 2004.
Mainstream personal finance education on the National Curriculum would form a long-term foundation to improve the debt situation, Mr Everitt said.
He also called for more advice centres for those in debt, saying that the FSA was interested in making use of existing sources of debt advice, such as banks, to deliver more progress on debt.
If you are affected by debt and have been refused credit, order your credit report now and see what lenders see.
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