Parents help their kids out of debt
Published On 19 September 2007
Parents increasingly have to help their grown-up children out financially and pay off debts on things like car finance and credit cards, a new study has shown.Research from moneyexpert.com found that 40 per cent of parents have helped out their adult children with debt.
Around a quarter (24 per cent) said that they have helped their children pay off car finance debt and 23 per cent offered their kids cash to deal with unpaid credit car bills.
A further nine per cent said they chipped in with money to let their offspring make mortgage repayments and six per cent paid off an unsecured loan.
Finally, two per cent revealed that they had helped to finance their children's homeowner loans.
"Having a child is an expensive business and unfortunately spending on your kids doesn’t stop once they reach adulthood," commented Sean Gardner, chief executive of moneyexpert.com.
"With the cost of living so high at the moment and with so many people living a buy-now-pay-later lifestyle, parents are often forced to help out their children financially in later life.
"Whether it's an overdue credit card bill, an unauthorised overdraft or even a missed mortgage repayment, millions of parents are forking out on behalf of their children."
Figures from Credit Action suggest that consumer debt in the UK reached £1.355 trillion at the end of July 2007.
