Poll: 1 in 4 Millennials Say Parents Cover Their Rent

Roughly a quarter of millennials say their parents cover their rent, and 35 percent of U.S. adults say their parents still pay for at least one of their bills, a new poll found. 

The New York Post reported on the survey Friday, which was conducted with 2,000 Americans by OnePoll on behalf of Chartway Credit Union. The survey found that the top three expenses parents pay for their adult children are rent (19 percent), groceries (19 percent), and utilities (16 percent).

“About three-quarters of those respondents (72 percent) plan to take on these bills themselves within the next two years, but 30 percent admit they will be riding the wave until they’re told otherwise,” according to the report. 

Thirty-one percent of respondents say they accept their parents’ help because they are trying to save money.

But despite enlisting their parents’ financial assistance, 85 percent of those polled say they are responsible with money. Seventy-three percent report opening their first bank account by the time they turned 25 years old, and 21 percent say they had a bank account before they turned 18. Whether they had a bank account or not, 30 percent of respondents say they had their own money to spend by the time they were 15 years old.

“How to spend and save responsibly are lifelong lessons,” Brian T. Schools, President/CEO of Chartway Credit Union, said. “It’s noteworthy to see that over three-quarters of those surveyed have been managing their own money for most of their lives. Still, a third of respondents find it difficult to find helpful resources to manage their finances.”

Half of adults did say they struggle to tamp down on frivolous spending, and 45 percent say they do not handle unexpected expenses well. Forty-percent say they struggle to pay their bills on time. Those polled struggle less with taxes (32 percent) and keeping a high credit score (26 percent). 

Nearly 40 percent of millennials polled did say they have difficulty finding and accessing useful resources to help them understand their finances. That percentage is much higher than for baby boomers, 11 percent of whom said they struggle finding useful financial information. 

“While 85 percent of respondents see themselves as financially responsible when it comes to things like credit scores or savings, ironically, 50 percent of them struggle with unnecessary spending or unbudgeted expenses, and 40 percent struggle to remember to pay bills on time,” Schools continued. “Conflicting data such as this tells us that a lot more adults could benefit from some form of financial education, whether it’s provided in schools, online, or by their financial institutions.”