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Brits’ combined January and February earnings have not been enough to service the interest on the national personal debt.

New figures from Unbiased.co.uk revealed that Brits have worked the last 70 days solid to earn enough money just to service the interest on the combined credit card and loan debt.

It’s figures show that personal loan levels in the UK increased to £9.8 billion, from £2.6 billion last year. So Brits now pay almost £1.5 billion in interest payments alone – which was finally ‘earned’ by the nation yesterday.

Unbiased.co.uk hailed yesterday as Debt Freedom Day, or the day when the UK finally pays off debt interest. This is a stark increase from last year, when Debt Freedom Day was the February 1, meaning Brits only spent 31 days to service our debts in 2007.

David Elms, Chief Executive of Unbiased.co.uk said: “This year’s Debt Freedom Day was a real warning for UK consumers.

“While Debt Freedom Day is of course a hypothetical point in the financial calendar, people should pay attention to it. In the current economic client is has never been more important for people to realise just how much it costs to service their debts and to ensure they have adequate funds available to do so.”

“2007 has been a turbulent year with regards to finances. Consumers no doubt will worry about the impact of the financial markets and the economy on their wallets and it is great to see that savings levels have increased compared to 2006.

“However, our figures also show that consumer borrowing is now at a worryingly high level and it remains doubtful whether we will see a significant improvement in 2008.”

This news comes as NatWest releases its MoneySense Panel research, a project involving 8,500 teenagers aged 11-19 years. It has revealed a generation with obviously stark unattainable financial expectations – the RBS economic analysis shows that in total, this expectation gap equates to £482,884,340,000 across the UK.

A total of four million young people expect to own a house by the age of 25. Furthermore, over a quarter believe that they will not get into debt at all in the future.

On average, teens expect to be earning an annual salary of £31,190 at the age of 25. This compares to the current average annual earnings of only £17,817 for 22-29 year olds in Great Britain, and two thirds expect to be in their own home by 21.

And while these teens dream of pie-in-the-sky figures, 5.2 million of them are unable to correctly identify the cheapest APR on a range of loans. Amazingly, 7% of young people in Portsmouth do not even know what debt is.

Stephen Moir, NatWest’s head of community investment, says: “A hopeful generation of young people is not necessarily a bad thing however, a practical and realistic approach is crucial to equipping the next generation with the skills and knowledge they need to face the financial challenges ahead of them.

“Ultimately, the more exposed young people are to financial issues, and the younger they become aware of them, the more likely they are to become responsible, forward-planning adults who manage their finances confidently and effectively.”

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