What do parents typically pay for for their adult children?

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This is just me being nosey really and seeing what other people’s families are like. Question as in the title, what do your parents pay for? Ours pay for holidays, meals out and clothes for the grandchildren. If I have money when we are older I would love to treat our children and grandchildren and pay for things for them. If you’re the parent/grandparents, what do you pay for for your children? I’m on about adult children that don’t live with you. I know some grandparents pay mortgage payments and school fees! I’m not so much asking on opinions, I know peoples opinions will differ on this.

I pay my adult DC’s gym membership, meals out together, days out for the DGC and other incidentals as they arise eg u expectedly expensive car service, outfit for a special occasion etc. We’re comfortably retired and love to help them out when we can.

I think many people have parents with a lot more money did to house price growth & pensions.

On average, retired people have a higher net worth than working age people. Wealth in the UK peaks around age 65-70, but on average even a 90 year old has more than a 40 year old according to
https://moneyweek.com/personal-finance/average-net-worth-by-age-uk

Of course, a lot of that wealth will be in a house rather than readily available as cash, but it shows the common idea of a struggling pensioner is far from universal.

This has properly made me laugh 😂

I think being on the bones of your arse at some point in your life makes you understand how hard life can be, and lets be fair, it's not as hard as some have it.
It means you appreciate the power of money.
How you express it depends on what you have available.
I am able now to help in a substantial way, but there was a time when buying a comic was a treat.
You do what you can, when you can.

My parents and in-laws paid for a few things over the years. Especially when we were first living away from home. My Dad paid my share of the rent to begin with. When we bought our house my in-laws loaned us the money for a new roof, my Mum gifted us the money for burglar alarm after we were burgled. Its got less and less as we have got better at budgetting. In-laws will often gift us some money at Christmas. They have never bought us holidays or paid our mortgage, that's on us and as adults we should be able to do that.

They pay for the odd meal out but we pay for all joint holidays, flights etc as we have more money than my parents. However, my sister lost her job so they pay her mortgage and contribute to her living costs.

Post 18...financial support for a masters and help for a deposit. A birthday meal out. Meals out sometimes.

Thanks. Not that I have to worry yet about having that kind of money to gift yet :)

Yes I mean this all makes sense and I guess I do know that but it is SO far removed from my experience (dad in his 80s gets state pension only and rents a small flat, mum is mortgage free but in a modest house with modest pension) that it's just hard to wrap my head around people in their 30s and 40s having their parents pay for their holidays/school fees/ mortgage.

This has actually been a very interesting thread for me. I think id always just assumed id be the same with my kids (currently primary aged) and they would make their own way with a little bit of help here and there when I could.
But dh and I are fortunate enough to be very comfortable (entirely through our own hard work i might add!) So I expect as the years go on and as long as that remains the case (financial fortunes can change in the blink of an eye) then I will help my DC more than I have been helped.

I do however agree that being on the bones of your arse at some point in life - even if just a poor student eating pasta every day! - is good for you to learn to budget and understand the true value of money
Constant parental handouts don't do anyone any favours.

yes a lot of pensioners have more money than their kids! They had the benefit of much cheaper housing.

Exactly! My parents have a house worth more than 5x mine, they have no mortgage and each of their pensions is at least double my monthly income.

I also think that because they put me through private school and university, sending me money for a new oven or paying for a holiday occasionally is such a drop in the ocean for them that they probably barely notice 🫣

Nothing as the parent was in a worse financial situation than me, although did help out with a loan which was repaid and stayed with them for a year when I needed to (but contributed to the household costs). Never expected anything once I’d moved out for college. No grandparents left on either side for my child but as parents we’ve saved around £15,000 as a starter for whatever they need when they leave home in a few years. After that I’d expect the child to be managing themselves in the main, but would probably pay for meals and coffees out etc. Sounds like some people have lucked out by having wealthy parents!

Absolutely nothing. They aren't poor neither my dad is super obsessed with how much money he can save.. he would give Martin Lewis a run for his money!

This is mind blowing. Each pension is worth double your monthly income?! Can totally understand all the help now 😆

Yep, both parents have excellent NHS and private pensions - I however am self-employed and will never ever bring in an income anything like it 😂

This is my favourite answer! I love you still get your pocket money!