Julian Knight: The danger of driving the Bank of Mum and Dad and the Building Society of Gran and Grandad to the wall - Spend & Save , Money - The Independent

Julian Knight: The danger of driving the Bank of Mum and Dad and the Building Society of Gran and Grandad to the wall - Spend & Save , Money - The Independent

You've no doubt heard of the bank of mum and dad but what about the building society of granny and grandad?

A new report by Friends Life (the new name for Friends Provident) highlights the trend of middle-income people in their thirties and forties, with families of their own, desperately turning to their parents for cash handouts to see them through the recession. It's not about buying a first home – aka bank of mum and dad – these middle-income middle-aged people already have one of those, it's more about trying to keep their heads above the financial water. Job loss is the most extreme example of situations that trigger the need to call in the cavalry, but the report reveals it can be as simple a matter as the rising cost of living.