If you’re counting down the days until your kids hit the big 1-8 so you can catch a break on bills, don’t get too excited yet. A new study reveals that your progeny may keep costing you well into adulthood.
Surveying nearly 1,000 U.S. adults who have at least one child 18 or older, Savings.com found that half (yes, 50%) of parents are still financially supporting their adult child in some way. More than a quarter of parents admitted to helping even more since the start of the pandemic, which, honestly, isn’t too surprising. So what’s the average amount of financial assistance parents are shelling out?
A whopping $1,000 per month is going toward helping their 18-and-overs with things like tuition, food, rent, cell phones, health insurance and even travel.
Gen Z (those born from 1997-2012) makes up 65% of the adults getting financial aid from the bank of mom and dad, compared to millennials (those born from 1981-1996), who make up 32%. About 20% of the adult children accounted for in the study are over the age of 30, with nearly 33% having parents who are already retired.
Now on to the hair-pulling stats: 61% of adult children who are receiving help from their parents live at home. Of those, 62% don’t contribute to household expenses. One would assume that with the generous offer of continuing to reside at home, paying rent or other expenses would be a must. Those that do, pay an average of $338 per month.
The parents surveyed do have an exit plan, however. Nearly 50% say their generosity has a one- or two-year time limit, but 18% still say they have no plans to stop forking over the dough.
Despite the good intentions, parents’ acts of assistance are adding stress to their own retirement. Forty-three percent report sacrificing their own financial security, with the average person spending 23% more on their adult kids ($605) than their own savings or retirement goals ($490).
You can head to Savings.com to read the entire survey (and get some warning on how to avoid your adult child’s own failure to launch).
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