{"id":907708,"date":"2026-09-27T19:34:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-27T19:34:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/907708\/"},"modified":"2026-09-27T19:34:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-27T19:34:16","slug":"the-affordability-crisis-made-37-of-parents-count-on-financial-help-from-parents-or-grandparents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/907708\/","title":{"rendered":"The affordability crisis made 37% of parents count on financial help from parents or grandparents"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nearly two in five parents with young children, or 37%, expect<\/a> to receive some sort of financial help from their own parents or grandparents over the next year, according to the BMO Real Financial Progress Index.<\/p>\n

The finding comes as the cost of raising children continues putting pressure on household budgets nationwide. BMO found that 82% of American parents say the cost of raising children has \u201cgotten out of control,\u201d while 86% say everyday expenses including daycare, after-school programs, summer camps and school supplies are making it harder to save for their children\u2019s futures. Over three quarters of parents said financial support from extended family is essential to afford opportunities for their children.<\/p>\n

\u201cRaising kids has always been a labor of love, but right now, it is also a major feat of financial engineering with families torn between spending on the urgent and the important,\u201d BMO U.S. Head of Consumer Products Robin Growley said in the report. \u201cWhether you are budgeting for diapers or dorm rooms, the absolute best antidote to daily financial stress is a clear, actionable plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

And the role of the baby boomer generation isn\u2019t just limited to writing checks. Among the parents expecting assistance, 43% depend on grandparents to provide childcare. Another 26% said family members would help fund their children\u2019s futures through a 529 plan or another savings account.<\/p>\n

This sentiment exemplifies a shift in how American families are managing an affordability squeeze. Instead of waiting<\/a> on the so-called Great Wealth Transfer, younger families are already turning<\/a> to older relatives for help.<\/p>\n

According to Care.com\u2019s 2026 Cost of Care report, parents are spending<\/a> on average about 20% of their annual income on childcare\u2014with about one in five parents spending over $30,000 a year on it. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has identified<\/a> 7% of family income as a benchmark for affordable childcare.<\/p>\n

While that\u2019s a 2% decrease from 2025, the report found that the mental health toll increased, with about 80% spending almost every waking hour focused on someone other than themselves. And that has led to a 5% increase in parents who have considered suicide or self-harm.<\/p>\n

\u201cParents are being pushed well beyond their limits by the demands of caregiving,\u201d Brad Wilson, CEO of Care.com, said in the report. \u201cIf this continues, care pressures risk pushing more parents to cut back or step away from their careers. That will only deepen financial strain and emotional stress, trapping them in a system that continues to fail them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Housing is also a major hurdle for these families. BMO\u2019s research found 60% of Gen Z homeowners and 57% of Millennial homeowners said they could not have purchased a home without financial support from their families. Nearly six in 10 Gen Z adults also expected to receive or ask financial help from parents or grandparents.<\/p>\n

This need for family assistance is emerging alongside a historically large concentration of wealth in older Americans. Cerulli Associates, a market research firm, estimates that $124 trillion in wealth will transfer<\/a> through 2048, with nearly $100 trillion coming from baby boomers and older generations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, that wealth won\u2019t be evenly distributed. In Q2 2026, the top 1% of households by wealth held<\/a> roughly 30% of total assets, according to Federal Reserve data, compared with about 5% held by the bottom half of households.<\/p>\n

The BMO report also found that proximity makes a difference: 45% of Americans with young children live close enough to family to receive help. Those parents reported saving an average of $1,915 a year on childcare and $1,443 on groceries compared with parents without that nearby family support.<\/p>\n

But that comes with trade-offs, with 70% of parents getting family support also being responsible for the financial or emotional well-being of their aging parents, compared to 45% of parents without family nearby. About seven in 10 parents living near relatives who provide childcare identified as being part of the \u201csandwich generation,\u201d simultaneously supporting children and aging family members.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost people make decisions to live near family with their hearts, not their spreadsheets, but those choices carry real financial consequences. Having a grandparent help raise your kids can be one of life\u2019s greatest gifts, but family caregiving is often a reciprocal arrangement\u2014and it can be a lot when you\u2019re already stretched thin,\u201d BMO\u2019s Growley said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nearly two in five parents with young children, or 37%, expect to receive some sort of financial help…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":907709,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[49394,64,63,8197,99,10947,186,7747,12870,184,185],"class_list":["post-907708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-affordability","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-baby-boomers","tag-business","tag-childcare","tag-finance","tag-gen-z","tag-millennial","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/907708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=907708"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/907708\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/907709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=907708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=907708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=907708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}