‘Bank of mum and dad’ lend grown-up children £18,000

♦ “The “bank of mum and dad” sees parents spending on average £18,000 on supporting adult children.

Around 17 per cent of over-55s who provide financial help to their children will be, if they are not already, worse off, Legal & General and the Centre for Economics and Business Research found.

One in 10 said they felt less financially secure and 4 per cent said they had postponed retirement after supporting younger family on to the housing ladder.

The researchers, who surveyed more than 2,000 “lenders”, also found that women were more likely than men to accept a lower standard of living in order to provide financial support to their grown-up children.

People approaching retirement aged 55 to 64 were also particularly likely to be feeling the strain – with money being siphoned from places such as pension pots, downsizing to smaller homes and equity release to help younger generations, Legal & General found.