Found out what is the “caring generation” in Lithuania: it supports both adult children and parents

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It is not difficult to find compatriots on the street who support their relatives with money. Lithuanian residents do not spare money for their children or parents:

“I live on a pension, it’s enough for me, and young people still need everything, the future is ahead. Children need it now, especially, the grandchildren are growing up, they need it.”

“I help, I help my parents.”

“I like it when they support me sometimes, but I don’t know if it’s normal. Apparently, it depends on the capabilities of the parents.”

Supports children and parents

Swedbank surveyed Lithuanian residents between the ages of 40 and 60. It turned out that a quarter of people support both their adult children and their elderly parents in various ways at the same time.

Half of the respondents financially support adult children, and one in five sends money to their elderly parents.

Including all support, both in money and services, adult children are supported by 4 out of 5 residents, elderly parents – 3 out of 4.

“For children, financial support is usually 100, 200, and even 300, 500 euros, but residents mention that support is not only financial. There is help with childcare and help with going on vacation. As for parents, relatives who have to help. The amount is usually up to 100 euros per month,” says Jūratė Cvilikienė, Head of the Finance Institute of Swedbank.

When residents support their adult children, they usually spend money on food, housing and entertainment. When people help their elderly parents, the money is more often used for medical expenses.

A generation of concern

Economists call the population between the ages of 40 and 60 the “care generation”, which tries to survive on its own and to help loved ones.

Lithuanian residents also have an opinion about this:

“Actually, it shouldn’t be like that, everyone should live within their means.”

“I think you should be more honest with yourself and your family members, and use that help and give it when you really need it.”

“Each child must have some plans of his own, create in such a way that he really doesn’t need financial help from his parents.”

“Almost 80 percent stated that they still contribute financially or otherwise to the lives of their adult children, which surprised me and I do not think that this is sustainable in the long term and encourages those children to take care of their own competences and enter the labor market,” – says J. Cvilikienė.

As many as 4 out of 5 residents worry that it will become difficult for them to support their parents as their needs increase. It is true that the researchers draw attention to the fact that the population group that supports parents and adult children faces problems of its own. For example, Citadele’s data shows that it is becoming difficult for a part of the population to help their loved ones.

Supports smaller amounts than before

“18 percent of the population between the ages of 40 and 49 that we surveyed confirm the findings of this study, and they also say that they support their family members with smaller amounts than before, which basically shows that a part of the population still feels the need to buy the growth of power and wages, but a sufficiently large part of the population still does not feel the recovery of its purchasing power”, says Citadele economist Aleksandras Izgorodin.

And Swedbank’s data shows that the salaries of the country’s older workers between the ages of 46 and 59 reach about 1,250 euros per hand on average. This is a similar amount earned by young people who are still on the career ladder.

“Abroad, there is a tendency that the longer a person spends in the labor market, his salary automatically rises, but in Lithuania we see a negative trend, especially in the age group of 50 and 64, that the salary of those people not only does not rise, but often also let’s go”, says Swedbank economist Greta Ilekytė.

It is difficult to survive in the labor market

In Lithuania, it is not easy for older working people to survive in the labor market.

“The health is failing and that person simply does not have the ability to work as before. And another thing: they simply do not have the necessary skills and barely every third resident knows how to use the Internet, computer and all programs, – says G. Ilekytė.

According to the researchers, the oldest working people in Lithuania are often hampered by poor knowledge of the English language. In the age group from 55 to 69 years old, only 1 in 4 inhabitants of the country speak English in Lithuania.

Learn more in the video report at the top of the article.