A survey conducted for Norwich Union has revealed that just over 15% of children help their parents out financially. The numbers are fairly equal for children under or over 35 - 18% of under 35's and 15% of over 35's help their parents out with money. 20% of children admit to advising their parents about finances, whilst 11% claim to help out when paying bills. Almost 20% of parents have their shopping done and are taken on holiday by their children.
Our View
It is great to see families supporting each other and children giving something back. What we are seeing though is the effects of people not saving towards retirement and becoming reliant on other family members. What people need to take on board from this research is that basic pension provision and the State pension are not enough to live on. Gas and electricity prices are rising and this will have a knock on effect for the cost of living.
In our opinion, the number of children having to help out their parents is only going to increase. The problem is that the more children help out their parents, the less money they have to save for their own retirement.