Nearly three-quarters (72%) of Gen X parents who have their adult children living with them said they give them financial support, Just Group has found.

The retirement finance firm’s latest research revealed that this support can be for a range of reasons, such as living expenses, to pay back debts or a major life event, such a wedding or a house purchase.

The analysis also found that half of Gen X parents, born between 1965 and 1980, have adult children, aged 18 and over, living with them full-time.

When asked what emotion they most closely associate with providing financial support for their children, two thirds (65%) said they felt poorer, 44% felt stressed and 46% felt tired.

On top of supporting their children, over one in 10 (11%) of Gen X are also providing support for their elderly relatives, with the majority spending an average of £12,350 a year on care costs.

Group communications director at Just Group, Stephen Lowe, said: "Gen X parents find themselves sandwiched between adult children and elderly relatives with both groups making calls on Gen X’s resources.

"The costs of renting or getting on the housing ladder and the state of later life social care are well documented, leaving Gen X with a sense that they have little choice but to help both their children get on in life and support elderly relatives.

"But it comes at a cost to a generation already feeling the financial strain. One in four of Gen X homeowners don’t know if they’ll be able to pay off their mortgage before they retire and more than half (52%) of Gen X are not confident they will manage a good standard of living in retirement.

"From their early years as independent ‘latchkey kids’, Gen X now find themselves quietly shouldering responsibility for the generation above and below them – often at the cost of their own financial futures."

---