Young people in Britain could be forgiven for despairing at the financial pressures they face – and feeling that previous generations enjoyed a much fairer economic environment. Then just to add to their worries about home ownership and a precarious jobs market, along comes the gloomy announcement that the UK’s public debt is now 100% of GDP.
That debt burden will have to be carried by tax-payers for decades to come. Paying the interest – just the interest – of the country’s debt currently accounts for around 7.3% of public spending. That’s more than what is spent on defence (4.8%) or transport (3.8%).
