A third (29%) of parents born between 1965 and 1980 are financially supporting children over the age of 21.

Over three quarters of those supporting adult children (76%) were providing ongoing help to cover living expenses, with an additional 19% helping them to clear debts, according to the research by Just Group.

A quarter (24%) of respondents said they had contributed financially towards a major life event, such as a wedding or house purchase, and 6% said there was another reason for the financial support.

While most were happy to be acting as the 'Bank of Mum and Dad' for their grown up children (87%), two-thirds (65%) said they felt poorer for it, and 46% said they felt worried about their finances as a result.

Stephen Lowe, group communications director at Just Group, said: “In the past children may have tapped the Bank of Mum and Dad for big ticket life events, such as weddings or to help with a deposit to get onto the housing ladder. Today things look very different and parents are far more likely to be providing cash to help with day-to-day living expenses.

“Meeting these financial demands from family may feel like the right thing to do but for many it means less money for their own retirement fund or mortgage payments.”

Recent research from wealth manager and Financial Planner Quilter found that a third of Britons said that their current finances and earnings would not be sufficient to allow them to manage their daily expenses in the event of a recession.

The same research found that almost two-thirds of Britons expect the UK to enter a recession this year, with just a fifth confident that one will be avoided.

• Just Group surveyed 1,057 Generation X workers between 16 and 23 August.