One in four British Columbia parents have bankrolled part of their child’s home purchase, and they’ve done it through down payment assistance.
In fact, down payment gifts and loans are the second-most common way that parents financially support their adult children. That’s according to a recent Vancity poll. (“Resolving debts” for their kids is the #1 way parents help out with money.)
But parental support has an interesting bias. Depending on your gender, you can expect significantly more down payment support from the folks.
Specifically, males were twice as likely as females to have received down payment money from mom and dad. The survey found that 39% of males aged 18-34 acknowledged receiving down payment money from their parents—compared to just 19% of females.
“We cannot explain the reason for this difference in numbers,” said Vancity spokesperson Lorraine Wilson. “…It requires further research on why there is a difference in inheritance expectations and realities for females.”
We’re no social scientists, so we can only speculate here:
- Is there a cultural gender bias? In some parts of the world, men commonly receive double the inheritance of women. It’s baked into their religion.
- Is it like the wage gap? When it comes to pay, men make more than women on average. But that gender gap doesn’t carry over to inheritances, at least not in North America (according to this research).
- Do men more often “take care” of their damsels by coughing up most or all of the down payment?
- Do men buy homes earlier than women?
- Are women better savers than men?
In truth, we can only guess at why women don’t (or can’t) tap their parental ATM as often for down payment funds. It might make a good university thesis for those so inclined.
Poll Methodology from Vancity: “Insights West conducted [this] online survey for Vancity from January 22 to January 27, 2016. The survey polled 403 adult British Columbians who are “older than 65 and parents of at least one child” and 401 adult British Columbians who are “aged 18-34 and have at least one parent aged 65 and over.”
Last modified: May 17, 2016
