Only half of the British workforce will be saddled with the responsibility of paying off the country’s spiraling debt, it has been revealed.

This, according to reports, is because more and more people are losing their jobs and the number of pensioners is rising sharply.

The recession has impacted on the economy adversely with unemployment rate rising to a record level while many resort to borrowing to survive.

The government has also pumped a lot of money into the economy in a bid to reinvigorate it and in the process running up huge debts on behalf of taxpayers.

Currently, only 48 per cent of the population are gainfully employed, which implies that there is a fall in the number of people paying income tax in the country.

But the main concern is that as the meltdown deepens unemployment is expected to massively rise and there may not be a return to a normal situation long after the recession is over.