The affordability disaster made 37% of fogeys rely on monetary assist from mother and father or grandparents
Nearly two in 5 mother and father with younger kids, or 37%, expect to obtain some form of monetary assist from their very own mother and father or grandparents over the subsequent yr, in response to the BMO Real Financial Progress Index.
The discovering comes as the price of elevating kids continues placing strain on family budgets nationwide. BMO discovered that 82% of American mother and father say the price of elevating kids has “gotten uncontrolled,” whereas 86% say on a regular basis bills together with daycare, after-school packages, summer season camps and college provides are making it tougher to save lots of for his or her kids’s futures. Over three quarters of fogeys mentioned monetary help from prolonged household is crucial to afford alternatives for his or her kids.
“Raising youngsters has all the time been a labor of affection, however proper now, additionally it is a serious feat of monetary engineering with households torn between spending on the pressing and the vital,” BMO U.S. Head of Consumer Products Robin Growley mentioned within the report. “Whether you might be budgeting for diapers or dorm rooms, the best possible antidote to day by day monetary stress is a transparent, actionable plan.”
And the function of the newborn boomer era isn’t simply restricted to writing checks. Among the mother and father anticipating help, 43% depend upon grandparents to offer childcare. Another 26% mentioned relations would assist fund their kids’s futures by a 529 plan or one other financial savings account.
This sentiment exemplifies a shift in how American households are managing an affordability squeeze. Instead of waiting on the so-called Great Wealth Transfer, youthful households are already turning to older family members for assist.
According to Care.com’s 2026 Cost of Care report, mother and father are spending on common about 20% of their annual earnings on childcare—with about one in 5 mother and father spending over $30,000 a yr on it. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has identified 7% of household earnings as a benchmark for inexpensive childcare.
While that’s a 2% lower from 2025, the report discovered that the psychological well being toll elevated, with about 80% spending virtually each waking hour targeted on somebody aside from themselves. And that has led to a 5% enhance in mother and father who’ve thought-about suicide or self-harm.
“Parents are being pushed effectively past their limits by the calls for of caregiving,” Brad Wilson, CEO of Care.com, mentioned within the report. “If this continues, care pressures danger pushing extra mother and father to chop again or step away from their careers. That will solely deepen monetary pressure and emotional stress, trapping them in a system that continues to fail them.”
Housing can be a serious hurdle for these households. BMO’s analysis discovered 60% of Gen Z householders and 57% of Millennial householders mentioned they might not have bought a house with out monetary help from their households. Nearly six in 10 Gen Z adults additionally anticipated to obtain or ask monetary assist from mother and father or grandparents.
This want for household help is rising alongside a traditionally giant focus of wealth in older Americans. Cerulli Associates, a market analysis agency, estimates that $124 trillion in wealth will transfer by 2048, with practically $100 trillion coming from child boomers and older generations.
However, that wealth received’t be evenly distributed. In Q2 2026, the highest 1% of households by wealth held roughly 30% of whole belongings, in response to Federal Reserve knowledge, in contrast with about 5% held by the underside half of households.
The BMO report additionally discovered that proximity makes a distinction: 45% of Americans with younger kids dwell shut sufficient to household to obtain assist. Those mother and father reported saving a mean of $1,915 a yr on childcare and $1,443 on groceries in contrast with mother and father with out that close by household help.
But that comes with trade-offs, with 70% of fogeys getting household help additionally being answerable for the monetary or emotional well-being of their growing old mother and father, in comparison with 45% of fogeys with out household close by. About seven in 10 mother and father residing close to family members who present childcare recognized as being a part of the “sandwich era,” concurrently supporting kids and growing old relations.
“Most folks make selections to dwell close to household with their hearts, not their spreadsheets, however these selections carry actual monetary penalties. Having a grandparent assist increase your youngsters might be considered one of life’s best presents, however household caregiving is usually a reciprocal association—and it may be quite a bit if you’re already stretched skinny,” BMO’s Growley mentioned.
