Families answer SOS from grown-up children

Parents and grandparents are increasingly having to ride to the financial rescue of their adult children, new research suggests.

In a major survey of inter-generational money habits, the retirement-advice firm Responsible Equity Release found that three quarters of parents have been forced to help their adult children out financially in the past year.

The most expensive time for parents is in the aftermath of university, when their offspring are often weighed down with huge debts while trying to strike out on their own.

It is not just parents who are having to fork out. Research from the International Longevity Centre (ILC) has found that last year about 2.5 million grandparents were called on for financial help to the tune of £647m. Most of this help was in the form of cash handouts.

Brian Beach, research fellow at the ILC, said: “For grandchildren, these transfers are likely arriving at a crucial transition point, impacting educational and housing opportunities. As people live longer and society ages, grandparental giving may have an increasingly important impact on the social mobility of grandchildren.”