A survey conducted by Savings.com found that 45% of parents with adult children provide financial support for at least one of their adult children. Among these parents, the average monthly support was over $1,400 with groceries, rent, and cell phone bills being among the top expenses.
Furthermore, the majority of 20 to 24 year-olds receive financial support from their parents. At this stage of life, many are completing college and transitioning to their first full time job.
"The majority of adult children receiving financial support were in the earliest years of adulthood: 66% of those receiving support were Gen Zers. Many people in this generation are still in college or just getting their footing in their careers, which means their income levels have much room to grow," Savings.com reported.
MOST AMERICANS DO NOT BELIEVE THEIR CHILDREN WILL BE BETTER OFF: POLL
"Interestingly, 31% of adult children getting financial support from parents were millennials. The youngest people in this generation are around 27 years old," they continued.
The study also found that 57% of adults receiving financial support from their parents also live at home.
Savings.com attributed these trends to "a growing generational wealth gap, increasing mortgage interest rates, growing student loan debts, and the economic crises of 2008 and 2020."
"These conditions have put many young adults on shaky financial ground, with little extra income to share with their families," they wrote.
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Gen Z Americans who have yet to accumulate wealth face a much different economy than their parents did. Median wages adjusted for inflation have stagnated for over half a century, however the cost of housing has skyrocketed. This reality pushes homeownership out of reach for many young Americans. Further, a college degree, which has increasingly become a barrier to entry for professional jobs, has become much more expensive in recent decades.
Americans around the country are struggling: inflation is still high, companies are laying people off in response to bad earnings reports and recession fears, and past due credit card debt is soaring.
