Most Young Adults Receive Financial Help From Mom And Dad

Here's another sign that young people are struggling to make it on their own.

Of young adults between the ages of 19 and 22, 62 percent rely on financial help from their parents, according to new research by Patrick Wightman, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Michigan, cited by USA Today. On average, a young adult taking cash from mom and dad receives $12,185 per year.

The study found that parents are helping their children pay for recurring expenses -- a sign that young people are earning unsustainably low incomes. For example, 42 percent of parents help pay bills and 22 percent help their kids pay rent. Most high-earning parents give financial help to their adult children, while just under half of low-income parents do the same.

It's clear that young adults need the help. One in two young college graduates are jobless or underemployed, and even the lucky ones with jobs aren't getting paid enough. One-quarter of millennials, or young adults between the ages of 18 and 34, aren't making enough money to meet basic needs, according to a recent survey by WSL Strategic Retail.

Many young adults have had to move back in with their parents in order to make ends meet. One in four adults ages 18 to 34 have moved back in with their parents in recent years because of the economy, according to the Pew report.

This is not the first study to find that young adults are receiving financial help from their parents to get by. Fifty-nine percent of parents give financial help to their adult children that are no longer in school, according to a poll by Harris Interactive cited by ABC News last year.

For millennials, the lifeline may last long after they graduate from college. A full 8 percent of 25- to 34-year-olds rely on financial help from their parents, according to the Pew Research Center.