Grandparents will pay more to fund grandchildren's university education, says new study

While 3% of grandparents have already contributed to their grandchildren's university education cost, the percentage is expected to shoot up to 13% over the next 10 years. The majority of grandparents said they would dip into savings to support their grandchildren. A small number said they would use investments or property wealth.

The high cost of living for students was highlighted in a report last week that showed the gap between income and expenditure for a typical student amounts to almost £8,000 a year. More on that here -

UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: 'The government says it is sticking to tough austerity measures because it doesn't want to saddle our children with the debts we refused to clear. However, our university students will be saddled with debt when they graduate, and their grandparents and parents are using their savings to try and lighten the burden.

'Students without parents and grandparents who can afford to help them out will find life at university even tougher. The government needs to ease the financial hardship faced by so many students to ensure more people have the chance to realise their full potential.'

Note

* Consumer Intelligence interviewed 2,072 parents and grandparents for Key Retirement Solutions between 16 and 23 August 2013. The report is part of a wider piece of research being done by the International Longevity Centre-UK think tank.