Young people - the IPOD generation: The proportion of 18-24 year olds not in education, employment or training (NEET) increased by 113,000 in the last 12 months to end Q3 2009 and now stands at 933,000 (19.7%). The proportion of 16-18 year olds not in education, employment or training (NEET) stood at 261,000 (13.4%) at the end of Q3 2009. The total of 16 – 24 classed as NEETS now stands at 1.082m which is the highest on record.

AXA estimate that a fifth of 18-24 year-olds drink alcohol to take their mind off their financial concerns.

The unemployment rate for 18 to 24 year olds increased by 24,000 (3.3%) on the quarter and 165,000 (28.5%) in the last 12 months to reach 746,000. This means that 18.0% of all 18 to 24 year olds are unemployed which is the highest figure since records for this series began in 1992. 325,000 (43.6%) have been unemployed for longer than 6 months.

Research from Sainsbury’s Finance highlights that over half of undergraduate students (53%) in the UK are to be given financial assistance by their parents to see them through the financial burden of university. The average amount of parental financial support given to undergraduates is £8,070 per student during their university life.

The UK's largest survey of student finance, published by Push.co.uk, reveals that students who started at university last year can expect to owe nearly £21,200 by the time they leave and new students should reckon on at least £2,000 more than that.

Pensioners / Pensions: At May 2009, there were 12.5m people of state pension age claiming a DWP benefit, an increase of 221,000 since May 2008. Of these, 66% were claiming State Pension (SP) only.

The proportion of people aged 55 and above planning to work beyond the state pension age has jumped to 71%, compared to 40% in a CIPD survey two years ago suggesting that the recession has shrunk pension pots, savings, investments and house values.

The number of people aged 50+ out of work is 367‚000‚ which is a decrease of 0.5% over the last quarter and an increase of 37.7% (100‚000) over last year. The number of people over state pension age in work continues to rise – with an increase of 29,000 in the three months to the end of September to 1.403 million, a rise of 76,000 (5.8%) over the previous year.

Scottish Widows estimates that one in six (15%) retired people in the UK have an outstanding mortgage, with an average debt of £50,100. They also estimate that a third (34%) are in the red on loans and credit cards and the average outstanding non mortgage debt amongst retired people with debt is £7,344.

More than one in 10 workers (16%) who have a pension say that during the past five years they have reduced the amount they contribute or have stopped saving into it altogether, according to the Prudential.

On average someone who requires care in a residential care home may expect to pay in the region of £25,000 per annum.

There are more people of state pensionable age than under-16s. There were 11.5 million people aged under 16 in mid-2008 compared to 11.8 million people above state pensionable age