The bank of mum and dad picked up a 2.7 billion bill this past summer lending their 18-25 year olds an average of £31 a week. Gosh and I thought that would end when they were 18!
New research carried out for Paym, found that a majority of parents feel they have had a strong influence (60%) and involvement (75%) in their grown-up child’s financial management, with one in 10 parents (9%) saying their kids expect full financial support.
The research
Nearly two in five parents (37%) with children in this age group give them money without agreeing what it will be spent on. Amongst those who do agree what it should be for, half (48%) accept that some of it goes towards socialising. (I think that’s fair enough don’t you?) Having said that, only 29% of parents feel that their child is totally honest with them about how they’re spending their money . Gosh…I really would want them to be honest.
Nearly one in five (17%) parents reveal that their child knows money has been set aside in recent years to support them through university and a similar amount know exactly how much will be given (16%). In addition, 5% of parents have an emergency fund available that they haven’t told their child about. (Fab idea to keep that emergency fund quiet!)
Jemma Smith, Director of Communications & Education at the Payments Council said:
“Parents have a huge role to play in their child’s understanding of financial management, especially as they learn to become more independent. Of the parents we spoke to, almost three quarters feel that their hand outs are crucial to keep their children afloat financially.
This is why financial eduction is schools is so important I think!
So what did this holiday handouts get spent on …..
- Summer socialising (49%)
- Holiday spending money (42%)
- Holiday travel and/or accommodation (35%)
- University preparations (clothes, books, etc) (30%)
- Learning to drive (19%)
None of these surprise me to be honest I am perhaps more surprised that these young people weren’t working holiday jobs in order to fund themselves. I know these aren’t so easy to come by any more but oh I had loads! I even worked in a bailiffs!
Jemma also said….
“Our research found that some families are open and honest about how much they can support their children as they leave home. While preparing for university, it’s worthwhile looking at ways to manage money electronically. Paym is a service families can use quickly and simply to help each other out financially by sending money, using just their mobile number.”
What a brilliant idea. I would hate to think of my children in trouble of some kind and be unable to get money to them quickly .
Let me tell you a bit more about Paym….
- It’s an easy, secure way to send and receive payments directly to a current account using just a mobile number
- Paym means there is no need to ask for other people’s sort code or account number, or tell them yours
- Anyone using Paym to send money will also be able to check the name of the recipient before confirming the payment, so they can be sure they’re sending it to the right place
- Paym is available to more than 30 million people across the UK
- Customers of Bank of Scotland, Barclays, Cumberland Building Society, Danske Bank, Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds Bank, Santander and TSB are able to send and receive Paym payments
- The service will expand further later in the year, becoming available on more than nine out of ten current accounts, covering in excess of 40 million customers.
Doesn’t that sound awesome.
To find out more about how to register for Paym visit paym.co.uk.
