Half of Canadian Parents Helping Adult Children With Rent, Groceries: RBC Survey

Just over half of Canadian parents say they are still helping their adult children with expenses like groceries and rent, a new survey suggests.

The survey from RBC found that 51 percent of parents surveyed provided financial support in the past year to their 18-to-40-year-old children.

Thirty-two percent of those polled described their adult children as not yet financially independent. This included 19 percent of parents whose children fell within the 35 to 40 age bracket.

Sixty-eight percent of parents with 18-to-24-year-olds and 37 percent of parents with children aged 35 to 40 pitch in financially, the survey found.

Fifty-six percent of parents helped pay for groceries, 24 percent contributed to rent, 21 percent helped with utilities, and 12 percent with credit card or debt repayments. Forty-three percent have also helped with an unexpected or emergency expense.

Another 25 percent said they were motivated by a desire to give their children opportunities they had not had themselves, while 15 percent said their support was driven by concerns about their adult children’s financial management skills.

“This generation isn’t failing to launch. The runway has gotten longer and a lot more expensive,” personal finance expert Melissa Leong said in the report. “Many parents are now stepping in to financially support their adult children, but it must work for the whole family. This support works best when it doesn’t just fund today, but when it helps build the skills, confidence and capacity to fund more of tomorrow.”

The study of 1,000 Canadian parents with children between the ages of 18 and 40 was conducted on behalf of RBC from July 2 to 8.

The Canadian Research Insights Council, which serves as the professional governing body for the polling industry, says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they don’t randomly sample the population.