Money management should be taught in schools, the Liberal Democrats claim.
Teaching young people how to manage their finances will help to tackle Britain's addiction to debt. This is the view of Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, who insists financial literacy must become a comprehensive part of the maths curriculum.
The politician is due to speak at a youth parliament event in London today, where he will warn young people that their generation is likely to suffer serious debt problems unless they budget better and take action to reduce their dependency on credit.
In his speech, Mr Clegg will say: "One of the reasons why the economy's in such a state at the moment is because of all this debt. It is our young who will inherit this legacy of debt. We've been addicted to debt and now we're having to go cold turkey. We must not hand on this addiction to you."
He will argue that schools and universities have a role to play in educating young people about money matters and helping them to understand how mortgages, savings accounts and other financial products work so they can manage their money more effectively.
According to a recent survey by Nationwide, over half of all parents are worried that their children will end up slipping into debt when they grow up.
