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26 Aug 2019 – Insights

Parents help their children financially

In Denmark, a large proportion of parents support their children financially – even after the children have grown up and moved away from home. A new survey of almost 3,500 parents of children of all ages has been conducted for Danske Bank by the YouGov analysis institute. The results of this survey show that only a fifth of the parents surveyed never help their children financially.

The YouGov study shows a quarter of the parents surveyed give money to their child to ‘sweeten’ their lives. This also applies to adult children. For example, up to a third of parents of children between the age of 18 and 29 sometimes help financially, whereas a fifth of parents of children aged over 40 provide their children with financial support.

Percentage of parents that give money to adult children - broken down by the children's age

There’s no doubt that helping your children financially is common – even when they’ve moved away from home. The extent of this financial help can be large or small. Some parents continue to provide a set amount of pocket money. Others just give money occasionally or help in other ways – for example by inviting their children to dinner to ensure that they’re eating something more substantial than pasta and ketchup at the end of the month.

Louise Aggerstrøm Hansen

Senior Analyst, Danske Bank

A healthy relationship towards money

Louise Aggerstrøm Hansen stresses that it is also important to instill a sense of financial responsibility in children so that they are able manage their money themselves. And here it is important that the parents themselves have a healthy relationship towards money.

“If the family has a healthy relationship towards money and are not living beyond their means, the young people are less likely to get into financial difficulties,” says Louise Aggerstrøm Hansen.

According to the YouGov survey, the amount of financial help given by most parents is between DKK 200 and DKK 500 per month – a figure that applies to a fifth of the parents surveyed. Between DK 500 and DKK 1,000 a month is given by 13% of those surveyed, whereas more than DKK 1,000 per month is given by another 13% of those surveyed. The amount given by the remaining parents stands at less than DKK 200 per month.