You can always rely on bank “mum and dad”

MoneyPlus, the magazine published by Standard Chartered, has an article about the extending period that children are dependant on their parents for money. The article is actually called: “How not to be helicopter parent” – the sort that ‘hover’ over their kids every financial decision. I would think this is easier said than done.

There were a few facts in the article that caught my eye. How true they are I have no idea but I suspect they are in the right ball park.

40% of parents worry that they will be saddled with their kid’s debts

9% of men are still at home when they are in their 30s

23% of graduates are still at home and 53% have delayed buying a home by 6 years.

76% of first time house buyers (under 25) couldn’t afford a property without their parent’s assistance.

All these figures are pre-recession – so the situation now will have got even worse – assuming parents perceive having their adult children living at home and still requiring their financial help, a bad thing.

Bottom line all of this argument is that parents, many of them being 50-plus are important elements of their children’s decision making process for large capital purchases. Marketers should understand that. Dick Stroud