Nearly half of Canadian parents financially supporting kids into their 30s

[Smallcock]

Nearly half of Canadian parents financially supporting kids into their 30s: survey

https://www.thestar.com/calgary/201...ly-supporting-kids-into-their-30s-survey.html

CALGARY—Canadian parents are supporting their children financially well into adulthood, a new poll by RBC found, and it may be affecting their retirement plans.

The poll found 96 per cent of parents with kids between the ages of 18 and 35 report financially supporting them into adulthood. Forty-eight per cent felt they were “subsidizing” their 30- to 35-year-olds’ lives, and more than a third worried about the impact this spending could have on their retirement savings and planning.

Rick Lowes, vice-president of RBC’s retirement segment, said the results of the poll were a bit of a surprise. He said RBC hears from its clients about supporting their children into adulthood, but “it was a little bit eye-opening to see the extent.”

Lowes said there’s no data to show exactly how much things have changed, but he pointed to increases in housing and post-secondary education costs as reasons parents may be supporting their children later and later in life. “We certainly know that in today’s day and age, there is an increased or large portion of young adults who are continuing to struggle to find steady income,” he said.

He said he thinks it’s likely the trend will continue, and parents of younger children should be planning ahead.

“Their children ... are going to be under additional pressure in the future to try and make ends meet,” Lowes said.

The study surveyed 1,004 Canadian parents above the age of 36 who have “millennial” children between the ages of 18 and 35.

Parents estimated an average annual spend of $5,623, the report found. These averages differed significantly between the provinces: Alberta’s average was $4,977, compared to $6,818 in British Columbia, and $6,694 in Ontario.

Parents of children aged 30 to 35 reported spending an average of $3,729 per year. The average in Alberta was $2,668, while in B.C. it was $5,279, and in Ontario, $4,135.

Lowes attributed these differences to the higher living costs in cities such as Toronto and Vancouver, which have seen housing and rental rates grow in recent years.

“Whether it’s rent, whether it’s transit … those markets tend to have a disproportionately high cost of living,” he said. The poll found that parents were chipping in on education and living costs the most, including phone bills.

Reduced government subsidization of education costs, such as the recent changes to Ontario’s student assistance program, could have a further impact in the future, Lowes said.

He recommended that parents of adult children meet with a financial planner to discuss their retirement plans, adding that it could take all of 20 minutes but make a significant difference.

“Many people today have challenges understanding how much they need to save for retirement and when they retire,” he said. “That financial plan will give them a sense.”

For those who want to help loosen the ties between their retirement savings and their children’s living costs, he said the same advice applies.

“I think a lot of people think financial planning is only for those people that are older in life,” Lowes said. “We all can benefit from additional expertise around how we can better manage our finances.”

 

[canada-man]

adulthood is delayed because of the obsession with going to university/college

 

[corp]

I believe it. Many in my extended family are like this. Supporting or "subsidizing" is the same thing imo. I have relatives that have their parents pay their cell phone bills, car insurance, pay for their cars or phones, down-payments on homes/condos. But when they post on Facebook "I just bought my first home" you don't get the part that says "but my parents gave me $150,000 to put down"

Pretty well all of my younger cousins are in this same boat. Even ones in my age are the same. I have cousins and friends for that matter that got married and their parents gave them $100k on their wedding day. If that ain't a huge help nothing is.

 

[Scarey]

We raised the kids with some very simple philosophies on saving, spending and being responsible. Last one left 6 years ago and knock on wood have not had requests for money yet. Hell, two of the three have bigger nest eggs then I did in my early to mid 20's

 

[Grimnul]

Ok, so before this inevitably devolves into “millennials are lazy and entitled!” as we know it will, some things to consider:

- the cost of university has increased around 5% per year for the past decade. Millennials value university education very highly, because baby boomers instilled that value in them.
- many millennials have a large amount of student debt because of this.
- real estate prices in Toronto have increased about 20% per year for the past several years. Rent has increased dramatically as well.
- none of the above numbers factor in inflation, which has also been a big factor.
- most people have only received a moderate cost of living increase in the past decade.
- baby boomers had a lot of advantages: they grew up in an era of incredible prosperity in North America, they were able to enjoy very low housing costs, and as a generation are overall quite financially successful.
- a smart phone and internet connection are essentially mandatory to function in society today. Canada has some of the highest costs relative to what we get when it comes to phone and internet service. This is another expense previous generations did not have.

So look, say what you will about millennials, but the deck is very much stacked against younger people just finishing university and looking to enter the job market today. These kids are growing up in an era where their money doesn’t go very far, and it’s very difficult to be able to live in a city like Toronto with an entry-level job. It’s very much not as simple as millennials being lazy and entitled. Honestly, seeing what my and my friends’ younger siblings are going through trying to start their own lives, I very much understand why this is so common.

 

[CANTO]

A lot of this has to do with inflation in the cost of living and wage stagnation. A lot of people can't afford to live in the city, but that is where the jobs are. This means they can move way out to places like Barrie and commute in or they can cram into a crappy basement apartment with a bunch of roommates or they can stay at home and live rent free with their parents. In many cases it makes more sense to just stay at home and save the money. If you are going to have to live with roommates anyway it might as well be family.

 

[curr3n_c1000]

Can we just admit the economy is garbage and inflation is slowly killing us all.

 

[|2 /-\ | /|/]

We do it to ourselves and thats why it really hurts. These parents need to be ashamed of themselves for damaging their kids like this and taking away their essential skills and instinct needed to survive in the real world.

I came to Canada with not much money as a kid and needed to help my parents with their second and third jobs after school. Payed 100% for my university and masters degrees with loans and jobs I worked. Payed off all my loans within 5 years of finishing school. I worked since I was 9 but officially got paid jobs at like 15/16 and worked every year since.

Now I have a nice life with no financial issues because luckily we had no other choice but to work to survive. I am very grateful for this life opportunity. Unfortunately these snowflake kids damaged by their parents wings will never get to experience this feeling. Reminds me of mothers who still breastfeed their babies well into and past their toddler years and think they are doing them the favour when its the mothers with the psychological issues.

These parents need to be ashamed for softening their kids like this and taking away their ability to learn independence. Stop making excuses for them...all is needed is hard work and persistence. Just wait and see what happens when these 30 year old kids need to grow up and have kids of their own and spawn 2nd generation snowflake babies.

 

[Smallcock]

So look, say what you will about millennials, but the deck is very much stacked against younger people just finishing university and looking to enter the job market today. These kids are growing up in an era where their money doesn’t go very far, and it’s very difficult to be able to live in a city like Toronto with an entry-level job. It’s very much not as simple as millennials being lazy and entitled. Honestly, seeing what my and my friends’ younger siblings are going through trying to start their own lives, I very much understand why this is so common.

You're right. Wages haven't budged in almost 40 years.

"In 1980, Queen’s Another One Bites the Dust was on the radio, The Empire Strikes Back was in theatres, and the average Canadian between the age of 18 and 35 was making $34,200 a year. (That’s in today’s dollars, adjusted, not what was on their paycheque, according Statistics Canada.)

In 2016, as we were downloading Drake’s One Dance, and streaming Star Wars: Rogue One, the average Canadian between 18 and 35 was making $34,300 — a difference of … $100."

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/the-millennial-dilemna-and-what-it-means-for-the-rest-of-us

 

[Insidious Von]

It's not that Millennials are lazy, far from it. It's that the school system has failed to properly train them for the harsh realities of the real world.

Too much of the public school curriculum has been cut. Students should be taught Business Math, Basic Accounting and some form of trade while still in High School. Also very few schools have music education, essential for developing agile minds. The worst is that trade schools no longer exist, they've been taken over by the Catholic School Board, shut down and turned into semi-religious schools. That's been horrible for our economy, plumbing, brick laying and tool/dye making are the worst affected trades. We have to import these skills. The students who would have gone into trades have no skills to develop, that's shameful.

 

[malata]

with hopes they will do the same in their golden years

 

[bazokajoe]

We do it to ourselves and thats why it really hurts. These parents need to be ashamed of themselves for damaging their kids like this and taking away their essential skills and instinct needed to survive in the real world.

I came to Canada with not much money as a kid and needed to help my parents with their second and third jobs after school. Payed 100% for my university and masters degrees with loans and jobs I worked. Payed off all my loans within 5 years of finishing school. I worked since I was 9 but officially got paid jobs at like 15/16 and worked every year since.

Now I have a nice life with no financial issues because luckily we had no other choice but to work to survive. I am very grateful for this life opportunity. Unfortunately these snowflake kids damaged by their parents wings will never get to experience this feeling. Reminds me of mothers who still breastfeed their babies well into and past their toddler years and think they are doing them the favour when its the mothers with the psychological issues.

These parents need to be ashamed for softening their kids like this and taking away their ability to learn independence. Stop making excuses for them...all is needed is hard work and persistence. Just wait and see what happens when these 30 year old kids need to grow up and have kids of their own and spawn 2nd generation snowflake babies.

I have to agree with this. When was the last time you seen a kid delivering papers or cutting lawns.
I blame "the helicopter " parents who constantly hover over their kids and baby them. Give them an allowance for doing nothing which carries over to adulthood. Kids know Mommy and Daddy will be there to bail them out so why bother putting any effort into life.

Kids that are the most successful in life(paid for own home,very little to no debt) are the kids who went into the trades.They will always have job opportunities.

 

[OnTheWayOut]

Parents can only blame themselves for not instilling solid work ethics and values in their kids to help them grow to be self sufficient.

Tale of 2 parents I know who remarried, each with 3 kids from previous marriage (now in 30s): The father's kids are doing well in life, having worked hard and made it on their own. Haven't asked for a dime since their teens. The mother has one child back home for the second time, anothe who had moved back once and is still being given regular financial assistance. The third one is struggling and has been for years and has asked for help often.

To listen to the mother speak and she thinks she did a great job raising her kids and blames it all on her ex. BTW, her ex also throws money at these same kids. Not every situation is this cut and dried but in this case it is clear where the issue is.

 

[havingfun]

Seems to me the kids are only following the examples of our political leaders. Doug Ford, Trump, Trudeau. They all achieved success due to out-sized help from their parents. Unfortunately, their parents are not there to help them now that they have achieved political success because they are all such screw-ups in office.

 

[Frankfooter]

Ok, so before this inevitably devolves into “millennials are lazy and entitled!” as we know it will, some things to consider:

- the cost of university has increased around 5% per year for the past decade. Millennials value university education very highly, because baby boomers instilled that value in them.
- many millennials have a large amount of student debt because of this.
- real estate prices in Toronto have increased about 20% per year for the past several years. Rent has increased dramatically as well.
- none of the above numbers factor in inflation, which has also been a big factor.
- most people have only received a moderate cost of living increase in the past decade.
- baby boomers had a lot of advantages: they grew up in an era of incredible prosperity in North America, they were able to enjoy very low housing costs, and as a generation are overall quite financially successful.
- a smart phone and internet connection are essentially mandatory to function in society today. Canada has some of the highest costs relative to what we get when it comes to phone and internet service. This is another expense previous generations did not have.

So look, say what you will about millennials, but the deck is very much stacked against younger people just finishing university and looking to enter the job market today. These kids are growing up in an era where their money doesn’t go very far, and it’s very difficult to be able to live in a city like Toronto with an entry-level job. It’s very much not as simple as millennials being lazy and entitled. Honestly, seeing what my and my friends’ younger siblings are going through trying to start their own lives, I very much understand why this is so common.

This.

 

[Darts]

"In 1980, Queen’s Another One Bites the Dust was on the radio, The Empire Strikes Back was in theatres, and the average Canadian between the age of 18 and 35 was making $34,200 a year. (That’s in today’s dollars, adjusted, not what was on their paycheque, according Statistics Canada.)

In 2016, as we were downloading Drake’s One Dance, and streaming Star Wars: Rogue One, the average Canadian between 18 and 35 was making $34,300 — a difference of … $100."

The income might be the same but the cost of living is much higher to-day than in 1980. For example, one could hire an escort in 1980 for $25, to-day that same escort is charging $300. Another example, the average price of a Toronto house in 1980 was $75,000, to-day that same house is probably worth north of $1 million.

Kids that are the most successful in life(paid for own home,very little to no debt) are the kids who went into the trades.They will always have job opportunities.

Almost all my Italian and Portuguese neighbors have kids that enter the trades. They leave school at 16 to learn a trade and are making $100,000 by the time they are 23.

P.S. My RMT says she makes north of $100,000 a year. Yes, she does outcalls.
I met another woman who says she makes north of $100,000 a year doing interior decorating and event planning (owns her own cando).
No, your kids don't have to live in your basement until they are 80.

 

[Insidious Von]

I once worked for a tyrant who didn't treat me any better than his own sons. He wasn't a prick in his leisure time but he was a stickler for quality running his business.

He produced cutting tools for the jewelry business and his sons were fed up with overbearing nature. I told them to develop a thick skin and stay with it, he's forgotten more about tool/dye making than you may ever know. Once he imparts his knowledge to you, you'll get rich. The older brother suffered through his father's tyranny, the younger brother went off to hike across Europe. Today the older brother is rich, producing parts for Toyota and Honda. I attended a wedding, he was also invited - he was my designated driver. Picking me up and driving me home in his RAV Sequoia.

As for the younger brother, I've lost touch with him, he's living in Lindsey. Trades are where it's at, something Millennials with their misguided education must understand.

 

[Darts]

I came to Canada with not much money as a kid and needed to help my parents with their second and third jobs after school. Payed 100% for my university and masters degrees with loans and jobs I worked. Payed off all my loans within 5 years of finishing school. I worked since I was 9 but officially got paid jobs at like 15/16 and worked every year since.

My family was very poor when I was little. How poor you ask? We were so poor I had to go to my friend's house to watch the Canadiens becuase we couldn't afford our own TV.

I went to work part-time at a nearby farm to water and feed the animals when I was 8. (I loved those animals and they loved me.)

I walked to school in minus 20 degrees in snowbanks 10 feet high.

Nevertheless, I look back at those times in small town Quebec with fondness.

 

[CANTO]

I have to agree with this. When was the last time you seen a kid delivering papers or cutting lawns.

I think your age is showing a bit here. You don't see kids delivering papers anymore because now newspaper companies require all their delivery people to have a car. With graduated licencing a kid these days can't have a full G driver's licence until they are 18 at the earliest. The days of 13 year old Johnny take the papers around the neighborhood in his little red wagon are long gone. Lawn mowing too is now handled largely by professional landscaping companies, at least here in Toronto. These companies also provide driveway snow clearing, so that market is no longer available to this generation's teens either.

 

[Grimnul]

I think your age is showing a bit here. You don't see kids delivering papers anymore because now newspaper companies require all their delivery people to have a car. With graduated licencing a kid these days can't have a full G driver's licence until they are 18 at the earliest. The days of 13 year old Johnny take the papers around the neighborhood in his little red wagon are long gone. Lawn mowing too is now handled largely by professional landscaping companies, at least here in Toronto. These companies also provide driveway snow clearing, so that market is no longer available to this generation's teens either.

This is a point a lot of people miss as well. Nowadays, many of the jobs that were in the past considered to be entry-level jobs that young people would take to support themselves until they were able to establish a career for themselves are now being done by adults as full-time careers. Also, some jobs simply no longer exist, or employ far fewer people. Newspapers, for example, don’t need as many delivery people, because far fewer people now subscribe to newspapers.

It’s not as simple as just saying these kids should just suck it up and get a job. They can’t. Adults are flipping burgers and cutting lawns now.