Research from Standard Life has revealed how in the past 12 months, almost a quarter (24%) of parents have contributed financially to help their own parents. Despite the widespread belief that older generations tend to hold the largest proportion of wealth and are supporting their children, that is not the case for all of them and some receive a financial top-up from younger members of the family.

The parents who helped their own parents out financially in the past year gave them an average of £2,251 per parent. Financial top-ups have most commonly been used to help parents with ad-hoc expenses such as shopping (16%), holidays (10%) and utility bills (9%).

Some grandparents now find themselves helping their own parents too. In the past 12 months, 17% of grandparents provided the 'great grandparent' generation with an average top up of £1,819.

Financial help

Despite the fact that some people are actively supporting the older generations in their family, the report found that the majority of grandparents (62%) say they wouldn't turn to any family member if they needed financial help. Only a third (34%) of grandparents say they openly discuss finances with their family, whilst a quarter (25%) only discuss money when it becomes necessary.

Of those grandparents who do talk about money with their family, the top six topics for discussions are about wills (32%), current monthly expenditure (19%), current budgeting (19%), current savings (18%), potential inheritance (18%) and insurance (18%).

The fact that some people, even if they are grandparents themselves, are providing financial support to their parents these days shows the two-way traffic in terms of how money is moving around. It's not all about the trickle-down effect and inheritance planning. Many older members of the family clearly find it difficult to ask their family for help, even if they are finding their income has fallen below the cost of day-to-day living. That's why it's important to try to talk about money as a family, to share worries and to tap into any help that is available.

Five key conversations that families should try to have with older generations:

1 Do they have a legally binding will? Where is it?
Only 18% of people have discussed their will and 64% have not discussed inheritance at all with their family.

2 If they were incapacitated, who would have power of attorney to make decisions for them?
Only 10% of people have discussed power of attorney with their family.

3 Do they have a pension that gives them enough income? Will it still pay out to their spouse if they die?
Only 13% of people have discussed pensions with their family.

4 Are there ways they could better manage their cost of living and do they need help finding better deals on monthly bills?
1.8 million pensioners in the UK live in poverty [Age UK] yet only 38% of grandparents in Great Britain say they would turn to family for financial help.

5 What kind of care provision is in place in case they can no longer look after themselves?
Only 2% of adults have ever helped their parents with care bills.

The research is based on survey data. 4,071 GB adults were surveyed by YouGov on behalf of Standard Life between 4-7 October 2013, weighted to nationally representative criteria of adults aged 18+. Of the base sample, 1,633 (unweighted) parents who were not also grandparents were asked a series of specific questions based on their status. In addition, of the base sample, 885 (unweighted) grandparents were asked a series of specific questions based on their status. The survey was conducted online.