Parents 'give adult children £21,540'

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About 55% of people said they still contribute to their child's living expenses, with parents also shelling out an average of £21,540 in one-off contributions towards weddings, cars and buying a house.

Paying their child's university fees are the single biggest cost paid by parents, with this adding up to an average of £6,735 for a three-year degree course, according to investment provider LV=.

But parents can also expect to pay out an average of £5,602 helping their child get on to the property ladder and a further £1,702 buying their first car.

Weddings set parents back by an average of £3,111, with 19% of parents paying out more than £5,000, while parents have also parted with an average of £3,340 to pay into savings or investment accounts in their child's name.

One in four parents aged between 40 and 49 said they still have children aged over 25 living with them, while 79% of parents who also had grandchildren said they were contributing towards their upkeep as well.

Around 45% of parents aged over 70 are still helping out their children financially, despite the fact that most of these people are retired and living on reduced incomes.

Nearly two-thirds of parents said they help their adult children because they needed assistance, with 17% saying their children had approached them for help.

But only 29% of today's parents said they had received help from their own parents after they had left school.

:: YouGov questioned 1,184 people aged over 40 with at least one child aged over 18 during June.