21 March 2007
People over 60 take a far different approach to the issue of credit than those under 25 do, the Chairman of the Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) has said.
While Britain's debt problem is frequently blamed on young people overspending on credit cards, Malcolm Hurlston suggests that their predecessors set the trend when cards were first introduced in the UK.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Hurlston explained: "People forget nowadays that when the credit card first came it was only one bank putting its toe in the water, and all the others stood back and said, 'What is this terrible thing? The British consumers won't like it'.
"And it was only consumers, 'the 60s generation', who took up the idea of the credit card that made all the other banks follow suit."
His comments coincide with a CCCS report which estimates that, by the end of 2007, more people over 60 will be seeking help for debt problems than those under 25.
Mr Hurlston pointed to differing financial outlooks of the two generations to explain the increasing number of people relying on their credit cards.
"People under 25 are... financially less ambitious, they're more likely to be living at home, whereas people now in their 60s were more likely to be leaving home at 18 and going into a different world. Their requirements are not quite the same for credit," he concluded.