'˜Bank of mum and dad' pay out a third more to children

Parents lent almost a third more money to their children in 2016 compared with the previous year, according to a survey.
Parents are helping their children get on the property ladder. Picture: Getty Images/iStockphotoParents are helping their children get on the property ladder. Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto
Parents are helping their children get on the property ladder. Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto

The “bank of mum and dad” forked out an average of £3,987.22 to help their offspring, rising 29 per cent from £3,079.91 the previous year, the Bank of Scotland found.

Research also showed a rise in children aged between 18 and 24 taking a loan from their parents from a quarter in 2015 to over a third (34 per cent) last year.

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Fewer offspring aged 25-34 borrowed from their parents, down from almost two-fifths (39 per cent) in 2015 to a third in 2016.

The analysis also found Glaswegians were most likely to borrow money from their parents than offspring in any other region (28 per cent), followed by Aberdeen (24 per cent), North East Scotland and Lothians (both 19 per cent).

The number of those borrowing from parents remained at 18 per cent in 2015 and 2016, but the actual size of the loan changed substantially.

Rachel Bright, head of customer and change at Bank of Scotland, said: “It’s interesting to see the shift in size of loan being given to children by bank of mum and dad over the year.

“Fewer parents are lending smaller amounts of up to £1,000, yet more are now providing quite substantial loans to children of £3,000 or more. It’s very possible that this is parents helping their children with education costs or getting on the property ladder.”

Parents lending more than £10,000 increased by almost a quarter (23 per cent), but only those aged 45 and over lent such high amounts.

Despite feeling guilty, only a third of Scots (34 per cent) expect to have to pay the money back to the family member, which is 15 per cent down on the previous year (40 per cent), the research found.