There's been a surge in the number of young people across Lincolnshire needing help with money

Citizens Advice are warning there's more young people across Lincolnshire struggling with their finances as they face soaring living costs, rising private rents and high inflation.

The charity say they're supporting record numbers of people with money management.

Clare Staunton is a debt case worker in the Mid Lincolnshire branch - she tells us more about why this may be:

"So our research shows that the proportion of young people needing help with managing money has doubled since 2019. Many young people are feeling particularly squeezed by the cost of living crisis. We talk about a triple whammy of soaring living costs, rising private rents and high inflation.

"Locally, we've seen a surge in young people needing help with their finances, and that just shows how much current pressures are bearing down on people. And our campaign is designed to help young people know they're not alone, and there is support.

She added that young people are facing multiple challenges:

"People say you know, is it just that young people aren't careful with their money? But we don't believe that that's the case. We know lots of young people work really hard but still struggle to make ends meet. We're all facing rising costs and we know many young people are struggling with issues like high private rents and keeping up with essential living costs and generally, you know, they're more likely to be in insecure work, or perhaps managing student loans and renting from a private landlord.

"Sometimes it's just that people don't always know where they can access, support or cut back on big costs, which is where our advice comes in."

The charity, which supported 66,000 under 25s last year alone, says one in five (20%) young adults seeking its advice need help with debt.

They say the vast majority of young adults still feel uncomfortable discussing finances.

According to the charity’s new research, nine in ten (90%) under 25s shy away from such conversations, and would rather talk about sensitive topics like health issues, politics or religion instead of money.

To address this ‘elephant in the room’, Citizens Advice are aiming to create a talking point and encourage young adults to open up about their finances and seek support.

In the Citizens Advice study, embarrassment was listed as the top reason why young adults feel uncomfortable discussing money, followed by the fear of comparison.

The top five reasons why young people feel uncomfortable talking about finances are:

• Feeling embarrassed of their financial situation (35%)
• Feeling worried how their finances compare to others (31%)
• It’s too personal a topic to talk about (18%)
• Not wanting the other person to feel uncomfortable in the conversation (15%)
• Not knowing enough about finances to talk about the topic confidently (12%)

You can find out more about the support Citizens Advice can offer on their website.

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