‘Bank of mum and dad’: Aussie adults relying on parents for housing costs and everyday expenses, survey finds

PHOTO: More than half of Australian parents are providing financial support for their adult children.

The “bank of mum and dad” is helping adult children with not only housing costs but everything from fuel and phone bills to holidays, a new survey shows.

More than half of Australian parents surveyed subsidise the lifestyles of their adult children, with almost 40 per cent letting them live rent-free and about the same proportionpaying for their groceries.

About one in three parents help pay for mobile phones, internet or other bills, according to a survey by comparison platform Finder, while one in five pay for some or all of their children’s holidays.

Another 15 per cent lent or gifted money for a home deposit, 15 per cent charged lower rents, 5 per cent went guarantor on a home loan and 4 per cent helped with mortgage payments.