Age you should stop taking kids on holiday - and when they should start paying

Daily Mirror

01-07-2025

Mums and dads hope the financial scales will tip in their favour and they'll no longer have to cover their child's costs by the time they turn 30, according to a new study by digital wealth manager Moneyfarm
Adults should stop taking their kids on holiday at 30, at least if the results of a survey are anything to go by.
After a decade of carefully planning mealtimes, noting nappy-change facility locations, forking out summer holiday rates for a resort with a kids' club, and then another decade of ensuring teenage children don't gain illicit access to an all-you-can-drink wristband, parents may be forgiven for deciding to go on holiday without children.
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However, a significant chunk don't. A 2023 study found that two-fifths of adults (42%) were planning holidays that year with their parents, as rising living costs squeeze families' travel budgets. And the Starling Bank poll revealed that more than a quarter—27%—of parents who are going away with their grown-up children said they are paying for some or all of their travel expenses to help them out during the cost-of-living crisis.
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Not everyone considers the set-up to be ideal. Mums and dads hope the financial scales will tip in their favour and they'll no longer have to cover their child's costs by the time they turn 30, according to a new study by digital wealth manager Moneyfarm.
When their child reaches 33, a majority of parents would love for their offspring to take them on a staycation or minibreak, while they aspire to be taken on a foreign holiday by the time their child reaches 36 years old.
This may be a pipe dream for most. Seven in ten (69 percent) say they still regularly buy and pay for things like clothes, holidays and even bills for their adult children, doling out an average of £324 a month.
While 79 percent say they always buy their children a birthday and Christmas present, 17 percent only receive gifts back occasionally, while one in ten (13 percent) never get one in return.
As a result, four in ten (41 percent) admit that they get annoyed about having to pay out so much for their adult kids.
Chris Rudden, head of investment consultants at digital wealth manager, Moneyfarm, said, 'It is evident that many parents are quietly hoping for a financial tipping point, where the years of giving gradually give way, from the age of 30, to moments of receiving.
'While it is clear that most parents are happy to continue financially helping their children well into adulthood, there is clearly a growing desire to see that support reciprocated in meaningful ways. From small acts like an invite to dinner or a home-cooked meal to bigger gestures, if they can be afforded, these milestones reflect a shift in how families view financial inter-dependence.
'These financial milestones represent more than transactions, they are about finding joy and satisfaction in your children thriving enough to be able to give back.'