The loans are given by parents to grown-up children and grandchildren, costing each household over £10,000 on average.
Parents are suffering a "savings sap" from their children, with figures from Scottish Widows showing that two in three families with children over the age of 16 gave them loans or regular cash gifts.
The insurer's poll also found that one in six parents put themselves deeper into debt due to the "bank of mum and dad" loans. Scottish Widows also provided evidence that savings were being damaged by the financial demands of children and grandchildren: nine in ten parents who made the loans dipped into their nest eggs to do so, while almost half said that they were unable to build their savings for the same reason.
On average, the loans and gifts cost each household £11,776, while total payouts came to £72.5 billion, Scottish Widows said. The current recession and rising unemployment across all age groups also seem likely to worsen this problem in the future.
Gordon Greig, head of savings and investments at Scottish Widows commented: "The immediate impact of parents providing funding to their adult children can be detrimental on long-term savings and investments.
"Many have had to cut back on saving themselves, reduce their outgoings and even take on additional debt. When times are as tough as they currently are, this is the last extra burden parents need."
