More than two-thirds of young people claim they have been encouraged to take out debt they did not want or could not afford, research showed today.

Around 68% of people aged between 16 and 24 said they had been encouraged to take out credit, while nearly half of young people admitted they had suffered debt problems, according to Citizens Advice and young people's charity YouthNet.

People were most likely to be offered a store card while out shopping, with 83% of people offered debt they did not want, saying they had been offered one of the cards, and 77% had received unsolicited credit offers through the post.

A further 49% had been offered credit by email, 46% had been stopped in the street and 37% had been offered credit by telephone.

The easy availability of credit came despite the fact that only 39% of those questioned were working full-time,

Unsurprisingly under the circumstances, 47% of young people said they had experienced debt problems, with more than half of these saying their money worries had affected their mental health.

Overall, 80% said they had access to some form of credit either now or in the past, with people most likely to have an overdraft facility at 79%, while 40% had a credit card, 30% had a student loan, 25% had a personal loan and 18% had at least one store card.

Around 55% of young people said it had been easy to get credit and 65% would like to see the process made more difficult.

Nearly nine out of 10 people also thought there were too many adverts on television for credit cards and loans, and just 12% thought lenders acted responsibly when issuing credit.

Two-thirds of those questioned said there should be more information available to help people who were struggling with debt.

The research also found that only 6% of young people drew up a budget and stuck to it, with 22% admitting they did not manage their money, instead simply crossing their fingers and hoping they did not run out of cash before the end of the month.

 The Penny for your Thoughts report complied by Citizens Advice and YouthNet will be used to shape a programme of financial support being made available through YouthNet's website, TheSite.org.

The charities hope the project, which will involve financial guidance being made available online, through podcasts and audio content for mobile phones, will reach up to 500,000 young people.

 Janet Roberts, grants manager at HBOS Foundation, which is funding the project, said: "This report highlights the serious strain bad financial decisions can put on people's mental health as well as on their pockets."

 :: YouthNet questioned 651 people aged between 16 and 24 online between October 23 and February 1.

 This article was taken from the Mental Health Foundation