- Parents over the age of 50 have given vast sums to help their children with bills
- Payments have also been put towards buying property and settling debts
The Bank of Mum and Dad has handed out an eyewatering £98 billion over the past five years – more than the annual income of some countries.
Research shows that parents over the age of 50 have given vast sums to help their millennial offspring on to the property ladder, pay bills and settle debts.
The total is equivalent to the gross domestic product – the total value of all goods and services – of countries such as Kenya, Luxembourg and Bulgaria.
According to the study by financial firm SunLife, families in London and the wider South East area handed out £36.5 billion between them while people in the North East gifted a total of £1.9 billion to their nearest and dearest.
The findings indicated that most of the cash went towards helping children buy a property – around £35 billion of the total – with £2 billion given to help pay basic household bills.
Other top spends include school fee and cars, though many gave money to their children just because they ‘could afford to’.
Financial analyst Graham Ellis, 56, of Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, said he had given his 26-year-old daughter a lump sum of £25,000 to help her with a deposit on a house.
He explained: ‘There was no way my daughter – who works as a nurse – could afford to get on the housing ladder.
‘Even the £25,000 I gave her wasn’t enough for a deposit, so I will probably have to top it up by £10,000 when she finds somewhere she loves.’
Mark Screeton, chief executive of SunLife, said: ‘Financially supporting family is a priority for many over-50s. Our research shows that many are giving significant cash gifts for a range of different reasons, including toease the burden of debts and the rising cost of living.’
The study used data from SunLife’s customers and the Office for National Statistics.
Robert Johnson is a UK-based business writer specializing in finance and entrepreneurship. With an eye for market trends and a keen interest in the corporate world, he offers readers valuable insights into business developments.
