I'm 25, and started my idea of a 'serious career job' working in insurance from the age of 21. I never went to university, as I had no idea what I wanted to do and didn't want to be in debt.

I'm lucky as I live in a flat with my older sister that I rent from my mum. I would really struggle to afford it otherwise. Renting in my area is still competitive due to Gatwick airport being so close. My mum is a teacher. 15 years ago she was able to go back to university while my dad supported the family. Even if I wanted to, I can't see how I would be able to go back to studying and afford to live.

There is no way I could afford to save up for a deposit for a house on my wages at the moment, let alone own a house by myself and pay for all that comes with it. Neither I nor my friends have well-off parents who can help us with deposits.Since starting work almost four years ago I received one pay increase of 2%, then it was frozen for a year, and then it increased this year due to a promotion. However, with the promotion came a new contract stating I must work an additional 110 hours a year.

I earn just £2000 more than when I started my job. It's very frustrating to feel like your career is going nowhere at the age of 25, and you are more broke than when you started due to the rising cost of living.

I'm just a young professional trying to start out in life like so many of my friends. We don't feel like the government is helping us to get ahead in life. In the next ten years I suppose I would be looking to buy a house, get married & have kids, but I just can't see how I'm ever going to be able to afford to do so.

My friends and I feel all that is so far on the horizon that we have stopped worrying about it. None of us have any money but what we do have, we use to enjoy the here and now. The future looks bleak, so we don't think about it.

Stephanie Reeves

After completing my degree, I worked abroad for a few years, experiencing a differing approach to lifestyles and wages. I then returned to the UK to do further training and begin a professional career. I worked in a low paying job to get some experience and took a £10,000 loan to fund my MSc in sustainable development. The rest of my costs I paid for through part-time work and savings.

I have just, after 6 months of looking, managed to get a short-term job. It does pay well, but I have had to move to London from the southwest to do this. Even if this job becomes permanent, I will still be paying £300 every month in fees to cover my undergraduate and postgraduate loans.

My basic living costs in outer London mean that I have around £150 for myself at the end of the month, and no savings left after I invested them in my professional development. I have had to move away from my long-term partner because of the lack of jobs, to a large extent caused by cuts to the public sector in Devon, where it constituted 27% of the workforce.

I am facing the impossibility of funding further professional development, an uncertain job market and am in a job that may well disappear in May. Even if I am out of work I have to pay over £200 a month back for my loans.

I trusted that the job market would get better and that development at my own expense would benefit me in the long term. Now I am unsure how I am going to live after May, and am saving all of my money toward covering my bills then. I cannot afford to go out or do anything to relax. I am separated from friends, family, and the person I want to spend the rest of my life with. And now I am being told that the sector which supports our society in which I have invested considerable time and money will lose nearly double the amount of jobs first indicated and huge amounts of funding.

Honestly, I am scared. I don't even want to think about the idea of getting a mortgage or having kids, because I cannot see where the money would come from to begin saving toward those things, let alone to pay for them.

This is the situation many are in. We have worked hard to get ourselves into a position where we can contribute to the UK's economy, and the opportunity to do so is being removed.This is particularly true of my peers, who are fast becoming a lost generation.

In short, my partner and I will move abroad unless something permanent comes up very soon, and maybe even then. Luckily, she is a teacher and can easily move abroad, and I have some transferable skills. I just worry for those that cannot do this.

Matt Porter

I'm 36, have 2 kids and live in Manchester. I am self-employed and can earn anything between £20-40,000 a year, while my husband works in IT and earns £45k per year.

My husband earns more than he ever has but has less disposable income than ever thanks to increasing utility bills and the rising costs of childcare. He is also putting a chunk of his salary away every month so that our kids will either have the chance to go to university or buy a house. He doesn't have enough cash to buy new clothes but we consider ourselves very, very lucky.

We always assumed our kids would go to university and own their own house. We no longer assume this. If they are lucky and we can still save for them over the next ten years then they will have a choice of either/or. Both my husband and I loved university and believe in education - we have six degrees between us and were also brought up with the message of 'work hard and you'll be rewarded' - but I'm not sure now that I will be encouraging my kids into higher education. I will encourage them to consider a trade, or setting up their own business. I never, ever thought I would do that.

We assumed we would buy a bigger house within the next decade. We're not sure we will do that now and might just stay put.

I never assumed I'd have a decent pension but my husband did. He now no longer thinks that and all of our spare money is going into alternative savings - paying off the mortgage, not spending lavishly, putting money aside for the kids.

I am a child of the last recession. My parents were crippled by it, lost their business and almost our family home, and it had a huge impact on me. I have no personal debts as a result. My husband is very similar and years ago we thought people were stupid to get into so much debt and expect rising house prices to sustain extravagant lifestyles. Anyone could see it wouldn't last. It doesn't make us any friends and we keep really quiet about it, but we were boringly sensible and now have only £20k left on our mortgage, good savings and no other debts.

So although we might not now have the lifestyle we wanted and the education we expected for our kids, we are very grateful to be debt-free and, if we both lose our jobs, we'd still be able to keep our house.

I've lived through worse. All of this will resolve itself and we're just hoping we have done enough to get through the tough times with family and home intact.

Susie Stubbs

What does austerity mean for me? Well, I have an index linked pension from the NHS, though in reality it loses about 1% per year, so I'm not that badly off. But my standard of living is certainly less than when I worked, and I don't see it getting better, so I'm thinking of emigrating to somewhere cheaper and warmer.

I have four kids, all in their 20s and in education or trying to find work. Unusually, they are scattered about - one in Germany, one in England, one in Switzerland and one in Austria.

I don't see them that much as I can't afford to fly around Europe any more, but we will meet up at Christmas.

I'll tell them exactly how things are in UK, and do my best to ensure that none of them ever returns permanently. There is no realistic chance of employment in UK for any of them, nor will there be for 5 to 10 years, if not more. I don't see anything positive that the UK has to offer them. Were they to come and get jobs, they would be at the bottom end of pay scales and paying for the mistakes of others. Why should they do that? I lived in Northern Ireland for most of the 'Troubles', but I was never as negative about the future as I am now.

Robert Campbell