Young adults ‘more financially reliant than before’ on parents

Young adults are much more reliant on their parents for financial help than they were in the 1980s, according to a new study.

The bank of mum and dad is helping more young adults now than ever before, new data has indicated.

A study by Lloyds TSB has found 80 per cent of young adults receive some kind of monetary backing from their parents now, compared with 61 per cent in the 1980s.

This kind of help may be all that prevents youngsters getting into deep debt as they face large-scale costs such as university education, buying a home and getting married.

However, it is not just these major steps that are drawing on parental funds, with the number of young people relying on mums and dads to fund day-to-day living also on the rise, from 18 per cent in the 1980s to 38 per cent now.

Not all parents may be able to support grown-up children in this way.

A Guardian study showed 3.6 million families may be just one major bill from a severe financial crisis.

By Joe White