The debt problems of millions of households look set to continue, as figures released today show the number of jobless households has leapt to almost half a million – the highest level since 1997.

According to figures released today by the Office for National Satistics (ONS), the number of households with at least one person of working age and without a job has hit almost half a million (493,000).

This marks an increase of 158,000 from last year, highlighting the debt management issues the recession has caused, and is the highest number since 1997 when the data was first collected.

These figures only relate to households where all people are unemployed; where both adults are available for work and actively seeking employment.

When the jobless household number is changed to include “inactive” people – such as housewives, students, or the long-term sick — this figure soars to 3.3 million, an increase by almost a quarter of a million (240,000) on last year.

The figures also showed that there are almost two million children being brought up in jobless homes.

These stats come only a week after official figures highlighted the debt problems and grim outlook young people face, as overall unemployment currently stands at over 2.4 million.

Debt advice organisations have warned against building up excessive overdrafts or credit card debts to cope with the reduction in income caused by unemployment.

Ivan Cooper, Chairman at debt management specialists Chiltern, said: “Unfortunately, unemployment is causing more parents to worry about their debt problems as they struggle to find another job.

“Many people may start to use their plastic or overdraft facilities to cover living costs, but this could have dire consequences as long-term debt problems could be developed by building up large credit card debts.”

Reputable debt advice organisations, like The Debt People, Hamilton Locke and Chiltern, offer a number of ways for people struggling with their credit commitments to get out of debt.

These include offering free budgeting and debt advice, along with providing professional debt help solutions where necessary.

Professional debt help solutions include Debt Management Plans (DMPs), Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs) and Trust Deeds.

A Debt Management Plan (DMP) is an informal agreement between you and the people you owe money to – your creditors. A Debt Management Plan involves working out how much you can realistically afford to repay towards creditors, once your living costs have been accounted for.

Debt management simplifies finances as one monthly payment covers all unsecured balances (Personal loans, overdrafts, store crads and credit card debts etc). Reputable debt advice organisations providing debt management should also be able to negotiate on your behalf to reduce or freeze the interest and charges to your accounts. Debt management makes the repayment of balances more affordable, as they are rescheduled over a longer period of time. However, if your situation improves you can increase your monthly payment to repay debts quicker.

An Individual Voluntary Arrangement is a solution for people in financial difficulty and offers an alternative to bankruptcy or informal arrangements (debt management plans). An IVA involves a legally-binding agreement between a you and all of your creditors. As long as you maintain your payments towards the IVA, you are protected from any further action by creditors.

This means that you cannot be taken to court or made bankrupt, and creditors cannot recover any more money than agreed under the terms of the contract. IVAs are repaid over a fixed period of time (usually within five years) after which time all remaining unsecured balances are written off.

For immediate debt advice, or for further information on debt management plans and IVAs, please call the number at the top of this page.