New research from Canadian bank TD Canada Trust shows the majority of baby boomer parents have financially supported their adult children in some capacity:

• They have let them live at home rent free (43%) [yikes – I suggest all adult children living at home should pay at least some rent].
• They have subsidized big purchases like a new car or computer (29%).
• They have contributed to monthly bills like groceries and rent (23%).
• They have helped pay off credit card or other debt (20%) [here’s why that’s a bad idea…].

But the scariest statistic is that one-in-five baby boomers (19%) admit they would consider putting their own security and financial future at risk to help support their adult children. Watch out, or you may find yourself filing for bankruptcy instead of retiring.

About the survey: TD Bank Group commissioned Environics Research Group to conduct an online custom survey of 2,155 Canadian parents who have adult children not attending school. Responses were collected between January 10 and 25, 2013.

Here’s an interesting infographic from the U.S. Census Bureau showing how the trend of adult children living at home changed from 1983 to 2011. Note that in plain language, “adults 25-34 who are the child of the householder” means “adult children aged 25-34 who live at home.”

Note one thing from the small print: “Unmarried college students living in dormitories are counted as living in their parent(s) home.” That’s interesting, because these children are clearly not living at home — though they likely are still being financially supported by their parents.

In any case, look at the difference between adult sons and daughters!  In 2011, 59 percent of men aged 18 to 24 lived at home, and 50 percent of women. These number are up from 53 percent and 46 percent, respectively, in 2005.

And note that the trend of adult kids moving home is not strictly tied to the economic downturn. Rose Kreider, a family demographer with the Fertility and Family Statistics Branch and author of the report this figure comes from, said, “The increase in 25 to 34 year olds living in their parents’ home began before the recent recession, and has continued beyond it.”

New research from Saga Home Insurance provides some interesting statistics about the number of adult children living at home in the UK. The key finding is that around 3 million parents over 50 have adult children living at home.

But broken down by age, the stats get much scarier:

• The average age of adult children living at home is 27
• About 14% of the adult children living at home are between 31 and 40
• 32% of parents aged 50–54 have adult children living at home
• 16% of parents aged 60–64 still have adult kids at home!

Pew Research is always an interesting source of statistics on just about everything in American life. Today I saw a statistic from their report on the sandwich generation that just about knocked me over. I’ve reported time and time again on statistics that show that large numbers of adults are providing financial support to their adult children. But I’d never before seen a stat capturing how many of those parents are providing the primary support for their adult kids. That means these parents aren’t just topping up an adult child’s measly earnings at an entry-level job, or providing occasional assistance when things get tough. Primary support means that these parents are still the biggest source of income in their adult children’s lives — maybe even the only source. Here’s the statistic exactly as it appears in the Pew report — and note that they define an adult child as a child aged 18+:

Roughly half (48%) of adults ages 40 to 59 have provided some financial support to at least one grown child in the past year, with 27% providing the primary support.

I have to say, even after all the work I’ve done on this subject, that shocks me. Primary support is not just a few dollars here and there — it’s a massive financial commitment for parents who are in the age range that they need to be thinking about saving for their own retirement.

Here’s an interesting new stat for you: More than 40% of parents pay the cell phone bills for their adult kids aged 18 to 35. Twenty-nine percent of them do so even after the adult child has moved away from from home.

I have to say, this one really shocked me. I just find it hard to understand this one — and I can only imagine what my parents’ faces would have looked like if I had ever asked them to pay for my cell phone. I can tell you this — they would have said no. And I really think  they would have been right to do so. It’s one thing for an adult child to benefit from the family landline while living at home (I certainly did this). It’s entirely different for a parent to pay a bill that is clearly not a household expense. Even if the adult child’s phone is part of a family plan, they should still be responsible for their portion of the bill.

And how about this? It doesn’t end at the cell phone bill. Some parents are paying for all the digital goodies that keep their adult children entertained:

• 17% pay for mobile wifi access
• 12% pay for streaming video accounts like Hulu and Netflix
• 10% pay for music services like iTunes and Spotify

All of this (including the cell phone) adds up to about $108 every month, or almost $1,300 per year. That may not sound like a huge amount of money, but it’s certainly not insignificant.

I have to say, none of these services are necessities of life. If a 30-year-old can’t afford these services, maybe he or she should learn to live without them for a few years. When I was in my early twenties, some of these services didn’t exist. But I did pay for my own cell phone — and I had my own account at the video rental place (remember those?), even when I was living at home.

All the stats in this article come from a poll by Harris Interactive as reported by the Wall Street Journal.