A new poll finds 70% of Ontario grandparents who financially support their children or grandchildren say it’s impacting their retirement plans.
But the study, conducted by Angus Reid poll in collaboration with Bloom Finance, found only 15% of them plan to reduce the any support to address any potential shortfall in their retirement savings.
Of the Ontario grandparents who support their families, the poll found 46% feel obligated to support their children while 41% feel obligated to support their grandchildren because of rising cost of living (54%), the need for financial support (50%), or their parents or grandparents helped them (32%).
The study found 60% of Ontario grandparents provide support with everyday living expenses such as groceries, gas, clothing and cellphone bills, 35% help with rent or mortgage payments, 33% help fund extracurricular activities or childcare, and 28% help pay for tutoring or education expenses.
The poll found 43% of Ontario grandparents give more than $5,000 to their children annually, while 24% give more than $5,000 to their grandchildren each year, and 57% say the frequency and amount of money they provide has increased over the last two years.
“Intergenerational financial support has become ingrained in our cultural fabric, and while it’s admirable, the rising costs of living are jeopardizing Canadian seniors’ financial outlook. ” Ben McCabe, founder and CEO of Bloom, said in a statement.
“Canadians shouldn’t have to choose between their loved ones and themselves,” he added.
The study was conducted online by Angus Reid for Bloom Finance from Sept. 18- 22 with 503 Canadians aged 55 with a probability sample of this size carrying a margin of error of +/- 4.4 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.