Death of the Bank of Mum & Dad?

It believes the ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’ is on the wane as more family members across generations club together to help each other financially. While parents are the most likely relatives to provide support for younger members of the family, many will also give financial aid to their own parents and siblings too.

When asked who they had supported, nearly half of parents and grandparents (46%) had given money to their sons and daughters, one in five (20%) had provided monetary assistance to their parents and one in 10 (10%) had helped their siblings financially. Similarly, half (55%) of adult children living at home will contribute to their parent’s bills – with 10% of families splitting the costs equally amongst all members.
 
Georgina Smith, Managing Director of Lifetime Mortgages at OneFamily, commented: “In this day and age with changing pressures on families such as children staying at home well into adulthood and older relatives moving back in, we are seeing a shift from personal finance to family finance, with relatives clubbing together to help each other manage their finances.
 
“We know that parents will do all they can to assist their children financially, but our research shows that there is a rise in cross-generational support as every generation feels the squeeze of day-to-day expenses."