London grandchildren more dependent on grandparents than anywhere else in the UK – with most of capital’s over-55s still providing support to adult children
Bank of mum and dad has become bank of mum's mum and dad for many Londoners, as research from peer-to-peer lending service Zopa has discovered that those in the capital rely more on grandparents for financial and childcare support than elsewhere in the UK.
More than three-quarters (77 per cent) of grandparents in London are providing some sort of financial support for their children's children.
Meanwhile, more than 85 per cent of the capital's over-55s are still providing some sort of financial support for their adult children, while 40 per cent are worried their children face an uphill battle to provide for their own family financially.
"It’s clear that grandparents are becoming even more important to modern British families by providing invaluable childcare each month and financial assistance through the bank of gran and grandad," remarked Giles Andrews, executive chairman and co-founder of Zopa.
Not surprising, then, that almost two-thirds of London's grandparents aged over 55 support the government's proposals to allow grandparents to share parental leave, which were announced by George Osborne at the Conservative Party Conference in October.
Almost half of those still in work added that they would consider taking this leave to help look after their grandchildren.
Read more: Grandparents will get paid leave to care for grandkids
On a similar note, research released in October by Investec Wealth & Investment discovered that just less than a third (32 per cent) of those parents and grandparents over 55 were planning to gift money to their children or grandchildren, with the average amount they plan to give away coming in at a rather ample £5,026 a year.
However, the Investec study also found that 18 per cent felt they were giving away too much and one in 10 confessed that their generosity had forced them to cut back on their own lifestyle.