As a parent, I know and understand the sacrifices that come as 2nd nature to your children; putting at least one human being’s needs before your own.

And when the going gets tough, we still put our children’s needs first, including the financial support they may need as they start their path towards adult life.  However, this very act of selfless love is now coming under scrutiny as whilst we’re helping our children with their finances, those who cannot afford to do so, are opting into debt in order to secure a stable future for their kin.

Lloyds TSB confirm 23% of families with children over 18, are using their savings to help get their children onto the property ladder.  Surprising? Not really.  In fact, I’m sure most of us, would always help our children where we can as they start to build their independent lives.  After all, isn’t that what being a parent is all about?

But are we taking it too far?
Whilst we try and be fair to all our children, doing whatever we can to give each the same financial support – even if we can’t afford it, we’re sacrificing our own financial stability.

Statistics confirm 93% of us believe what we provide for one child, we must provide for the other.  And it doesn’t stop there. 14% of us believe our contribution to our children’s future is not a one hit wonder and so we continue to save in order to ensure there’s money in the pot to help them again, should they ever need it.

The problem which is most worrying though is, should we be?  If this was a business running us into to debt, would you still make the same decision?  But it isn’t a business, is it?  It’s your very much loved children – and for those who can’t afford to give all of theirs the same amount of money, they’re choosing to still do so; but in doing so, accept the consequence of making themselves “in debt”.

Am I over schlogging this one?  Not at all.  According to Confused.com’s Joanne Garcia, many over 50’s accept being in debt is as “a way of life” for them and as a result, often delay retirement for as long as possible to make ends meet. Is this really how we want to live our later years?  Surely if we can avoid it, we should?  Should common sense and business sense play a role in “parental sense”?

So, what I want to know is, if you have children over 18, have you helped them get on to the property ladder? And if so, has this placed you further into debt?