A fifth of British families rely on help from grandparents to provide financial support for grandchildren throughout their childhood. According to Barclay's research, grandparents are spending around £4 billion every year to help families with childhood costs, which is an annual average of £2,303 per family. The survey found that almost a quarter of this money was used to help younger family members onto the property ladder, either through house deposits or contributing to mortgage repayments.
Our view:
Older people, based upon property wealth, are in a much better position than ever to help younger people. This has not always been so and we do not expect this to continue into the next generations as the current low birth rate moves into future generations there will be less 'granny' wealth.