Millennials rely on parents to foot the bills

35 percent of Millennials say their parents pay at least one of their monthly bills, according to a survey OnePoll conducted for Chartway Credit Union of 2,000 Americans between December and January. Housing is one of the larger expenses passed on: almost a quarter of Millennials said their parents pay their rent.

No surprise. In the big cities, which usually attract young professionals, rents hit record highs over the summer. While rents are slowly starting to fall, they are still more expensive than they were a year ago. The number of people renting is at its highest level in half a century – even millionaire millennials rent (though some prefer to put their money elsewhere).

Millennials also reported that their parents pay for groceries, utility bills, car insurance, car payments, and streaming services. Perhaps some of these parents have been clinging to financial domination for too long — but the situation also highlights the short end of the economic sticks Millennials have long struggled with.

They weathered the Great Recession and its aftermath, only to be hit by a pandemic when they finally gained financial traction and accelerated their careers—all while saddled with massive student debt. Rising living costs have already caused millennials to delay life milestones like starting a family or buying a home, and 40 years of high inflation for the first time in their lives hasn’t helped.

For her mostly baby boomer parents, home ownership and wealth accumulation was a different story. The American Dream was a cheaper business for the older generation, who had accumulated greater wealth and financial independence before their children. Research shows that the average wealth gap between those aged 60 and over and those aged 40 and under has almost doubled since the 1960s and 1970s. While boomers have had more time to accumulate wealth, wealth among 20- to 39-year-olds has declined.

“It’s almost like we don’t want millennials to have a piece of the American Dream,” said André Perry, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution wealth.

Receiving financial support from parents — or even living at home, as many millennials still do — can help the generation save and get their finances in order.

Many of the millennials surveyed appear to want to take on their own bills, or at least 72% plan to do so within the next two years. Thirty-one percent say saving on some of their parents’ monthly plans helps them. But 30% admit they will take any financial assistance they can get until their parents say they have the floor.

Personal finance guru Dave Ramsey has said that “Momma” can’t protect young adults living at home – but she may have some extra cash in her purse to help her kids who can’t even care able to afford to rent a house.