Home improvements worth £1,280 carried out by mum and dad
Vital home improvement know-how is being lost through the generations as grown-up children still turn to mum and dad to help them with their DIY and home improvements, according to research.
More than half (55%) of empty nest parents are still being called upon to help with home improvements around their grown up children's homes, carrying out jobs that could equate to over £1,280 per year if carried out by a professional tradesman.
The survey, carried out for the UK's largest insurer, Aviva, showed parents spend the equivalent of nearly one hour per week (51 hours per year) carrying out home improvements for grown up children aged 20-40 living away from home.
The toolbox of mum and dad is most frequently called in to help with garden maintenance (47%), painting (46%) and building and assembling furniture (34%). But some grown-up children still call upon their parents to help with bleeding radiators (9%) and even changing light bulbs (8%).
Most helpful parents forgo their own leisure time (52%) to help their children, while one in five pass up their own weekly chores (20%), their own DIY jobs (18%), gardening (18%) or spending time with their partner (18%) in the quest to help their children.
Despite the time and investment from mum and dad, it seems the ‘Do It For Me' generation are in no hurry to learn how to do these tasks themselves. If parents were unavailable to help their grown up children, two fifths (42%) believe their children would leave the tasks until their parents are available and 40% believe their children would hire a tradesman instead of tackling the job themselves.
The Toolbox of Mum and Dad
How the ‘Do It For Me' generation is making the most of the toolbox of mum and dad:
Parents visit their grown-up children to help them with their home improvements on average eight times per year, although a third (30%) visit their children on more than 10 separate occasions each year to carry out home improvements
In addition to their time, parents spend an average of £334 per year on buying materials and goods to help with their children's household improvements
While most of the younger generation (69%) ask their parents for their home improvement help over the phone, a third (32%) of parents are asked to help out when they drop in for a visit
81% of parents think they were more capable of handling their home improvements at their children's age than their children are nowadays
Commenting on the research, Heather Smith, director of home insurance at Aviva said: "While the majority of us cherish our homes and take pride in making them our own, it seems the knowledge and willingness to take on these tasks ourselves is diminishing over time.
"It's great to see that parents are still happy to help their children with their own home improvement and renovation projects, but inspiring them to learn for themselves and gain this skill set will undoubtedly help them make the most of their homes in the future."
Craig Phillips, TV personality with over 20 years' experience in the building and DIY industry, is working with Aviva to give homeowners advice on how to handle simple home improvement and maintenance tasks. Craig comments:
"Home improvement tasks can appear daunting the first time you turn your hand to them, but learning a new skill such as painting or hanging simple fixtures can help you to transform your home. Aside from helping to personalise your home, additional home maintenance know-how will help you be confident in dealing with common minor problems that can arise."