New research has shown that the number of men seeking debt advice from a debt charity has leaped by more than 50% over the past three years.

The research conducted by the Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) said that the upwards trend was attributed to higher household costs, rising unemployment and a lack of pay increases.

The CCCS said that although men tend to have lower debts than women, including loans, credit cards and mortgages, they were less likely to be able to keep up with repayments and that many men were now struggling to meet their basic living costs.

Chairman of the CCCS, Malcolm Hurlston, said: “Men have been hard hit by the recession and are emerging as the new underclass.

“Debt alone is no longer the problem. It is loss of income and other rising costs. This deterioration in the economic circumstances for men, still the main breadwinner in most homes, has serious implications for many households.”

The number of men contacting the debt charity leapt up to 221,000 last year, a 51% increase from thr previous year’s levels of 146,000. Men owe

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