Here’s the magic age parents think their kids finally become financial adults
Parents and kids should prepare themselves for a long old ride when it comes to forking out financially.
Mum, Dad, and their bank, expect to be supporting their offspring until the ripe old age of 29, new research reveals.
Parents say they're likely to splashing out on the usual markers of their child entering adulthood, such as driving lessons and buying a car, the costs of going to university, or even funding a gap year, research by Sainsbury's Bank found.
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But with the rising cost of living, extended education and a competitive job market, rather than just those rights of passages, support from parents is now expected to cover some seriously adult milestones such as weddings, the cost of rent deposits or even paying rent in some cases, as well as helping out with a deposit for buying a property and even topping up kids' income.
“Today’s parents are the first to face the perfect storm of expensive university fees, sky-high property prices and near unaffordable rents in cities, none of which they had to deal with themselves at their children’s age," said Jasmine Birties, founder of Money Magpie and author of the Sainsbury's Bank Family Finance Report.
The bank found that parents took out loans worth a total of £2m last year to support their kids in some way and estimates that the value of loan per child stands at £11,179.
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The number of adult kids aged between 20 and 34 living with parents has grown by nearly a quarter over the last two decades, according to its analysis of data from the Office of National Statistics, and now stands at 3.3m.
“Providing financial support to grown-up children is something that parents are having to factor into their financial planning nowadays," said Simon Ranson, head of banking at Sainsbury's Bank.
"Many young adults struggle to achieve financial independence and rely on their parents’ support for much of their early adulthood. It’s vital for parents to instil the importance of financial savviness in their children from an early age and steer them towards financial independence while offering support where needed.”