Rise of the "babygloomers" who have to support their parents and their adult children

drc

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/savings/4615052/Babygloomers-emerge-as-most-striking-phenomenon-of-credit-crisis.html

Broken_hearted

Sad situation but nothing new. People have always been forced to help look after their elderly relative to their own detriment

BlondeHeadOn

Broken_hearted wrote: »

Sad situation but nothing new. People have always been forced to help look after their elderly relative to their own detriment

I thought the article was making 2 very different points:

1. The elderly relatives are suddenly in trouble because of the credit crunch and lower interest rates hitting their incomes - so their children are having to bail them out unexpectedly.

2. The 'babygloomers' are also having to bail out/support their own children financially, as they can't get jobs and afford housing etc.

From the Telegraph article:

Melanie Bien, of mortgage brokers Savills Private Finance, said: "The Babygloomers have a huge responsibility on their shoulders. They are being squeezed in two directions - on one side by their children who need help with their mortgage or getting on the housing ladder, and on the other by their parents who are suffering from restricted income because of the low return on savings rates."
Pensions experts warned that while it was understandable that people wanted to support their parents, there is a risk that this could leave their own pension plans in ruin.
Tom McPhail, a pensions expert at wealth managers Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "Societies operate on the basis of wealth flowing between generations, with families helping each other out at different stages of life. This system has broken down and the parents of today are trapped in the middle. The retired generation can't afford to support itself and so needs help; the children of today can't get jobs and so they need help; in the meantime, the parents of today also know that they must save for their own retirement because when they do get to old age the government of tomorrow won't have any money left to look after them."

baileysbattlebus

Yes, it is tough, OH and I helped my parents and his mother, my parents, when they came to stay with us by not letting them spend any money (they normally came for 2 weeks at a time), so while they were with us they never had to draw their pensions and by buying winter coats ect for them

OH's mother by paying the top up fees to the residential home that she was in and by keeping her bank account topped up - what ever she spent got replaced.

The kids too, we have one who lives with us with her 7 year old son - always lived here apart from a few months in a flat. We more or less bring him up.

Another one we helped with the deposit for a house for her and her partner - now they have split up, the house bought 3 years ago is on the market and she is back at home.

Another one has become unemployed, building trade. We don't give him money, but his car is maintained, taxed and insured by us - all he has to do is put petrol in it.

Both sets of parents are dead now, so it's just the kids and grandchildren. One day our money will be for us - it feels like it's communal to a degree now.

My parents, or OH's were never in position to help us - with hindsight that was probably a good thing, there was no one we could turn to if we needed anything, just ourselves. But I think that has made us more resilient than a lot of the younger generation - we are mid 50's. I sometimes wonder if we have done the right thing - not by our parents - but by our children

We will have good (at the moment) pensions. infact I already get mine, though still work and OH when he is ready to retire will get his, so we aren't worried on that score.