Education causing parents to “worry”

University fees and the rise in the number of people going on to higher education are causing parents to worry about debt, an investment company has said.

Anna Sofat, director of Addidi Wealth, said around the top 30 per cent of the population is now going to university compared to five per cent previously – and parents are shouldering the cost.

“If they don’t fund it then they see their children starting life with debt so it’s a worry all round,” she said.

Potentially this could mean parents struggling to remain debt free, however, particularly with the added burden of retirement.

Ms Sofat said parents can now put money away for their children’s pensions, suggesting they may be neglecting their own.

“This is not something which is commonly being done by parents on more modest incomes,” she added, however.

According to research by Skandia, 40 per cent of parents expect to help their children clear debt well into their 30s.

By Morwenna Kearns