Can see this from both sides. DH and I got ourselves on the property ladder independently in our 20s. We both bought shoe box flats, got bank loans for the deposits, were lucky as it was the 90s so bought after the house price disaster that saw friends cohabiting with ex spouses because they were sitting with 50k negative equity. OP’s parents are in that generation, I think, being older than me/DH and so may have taken a hit in that economic event.
I guess we were ‘lucky’ in that we bought after that, but I do remember the first year in dh’s first flat sleeping on an inflatable bed with an old telly from uni resting on an upturned bucket. Living on baked beans etc. we didn’t have holidays - my first holiday ever was in my 20s to see friends in the US. Annual holidays were years away. I didn’t have my first car, or even the spare cash to learn to drive, until my early forties. I think OP may be looking at her parent’s situation and the idea of ‘luck’ through green-tinted lenses. It was not easy. Interest rates were high; the early 90’s saw a graduate unemployment at a high not unlike today’s; a starting salary was £12k and my first flat was £75k so more than 5x my salary; renting exorbitant (which was why we decided to buy in the end as we resent half our income going to pay off someone else’s capital asset).
I am not saying things are not tough now, and my DH and I HAVE financially planned to get our kids onto the property ladder by down sizing when DH retires, in recognition of that - but we are very comfortably off due to DH’s professional job. Our children are lucky and, in fact, my kids will also benefit by receiving some money from their grandparents when they pass - hopefully not for at least another 10 years. Whilst their generation has it harder - student loans, poorer job prospects, higher property prices, comparatively lower salaries - they are the generation that may benefit from both home-owning grandparents and parents in the long-term.
As others say, it swings in roundabouts. OP is lucky her parents aren’t like the ones you read about on MN (and in the Telegraph) who did downsize, move 4-5 hours away so were unavailable to help with grandchildren, blew the equity release on cruises and travel in retirement, and then came back crying because they have no support from their children. OP’s parents are investing in a capital asset that - health/old age care cost permitting - may mean a bigger inheritance in due course.