Should parents still be bailing out their adult 'kids'?

Every parent expects to spend a fortune on their children when they are at home and dependant on them financially, but what many don't bank on is the fact that they will still be having to bail out their kids even when they're all grown up. According to some new research by Scottish Widows, adult children still cost their poor parents about £12,000 a year as they struggle to cope with financial independency.

With the housing market as difficult to tap into as it is currently, and with so many young adults coming out of education with mountains of debt, one of the biggest expenses for parents with adult children is the money for a deposit on their first house; about a third of parents who give money to their kids are doing it to help them get onto the housing ladder, with many more even helping out with mortgage repayments and in some cases, even becoming joint mortgage holders with their kids.

Another big expense for parents is their kids' cars – loads of parents are forking out for insurance and money for repairs, and it is not even their own car! And with others paying for their kids' debts, university fees and even living expenses in some cases, it really is a costly business.

According to the research, parents are spending £67million on their grown-up kids, and for many, this was supposed to be retirement money!

But is it really the kids' fault? This generation, i.e. the 18-30s, is one of the 'hardest up' for years; house prices are still sky high, wages are not going up inline with the cost of living - especially with the massive hikes in energy bills, petrol and food - while education is more expensive than it has ever been.

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