Many mothers fare poorly in retirement after raising a family

Supporting our parents through retirement has now been documented by a superannuation fund survey. REST Industry Super surveyed over 1,000 Australians over the age of 18 regarding the provision of financial support to their parents, finding than more than one in three are supporting their mothers in retirement because they believe their mum put the family's financial needs ahead of her own. 

This results in women who are unprepared financially for retirement. For every five mothers, two will end up being financially supported by their children because saving for retirement wasn't an option. 

Intergenerational dependency, it appears, is a self-perpetuating trend - over 60 per cent of those who support their parents in retirement think they will also need the same support from their children. 

Retired mothers are twice as likely as retired fathers to need financial help for medical expenses, and almost three times as likely to need help with rent and home expenses. 

This has resulted in over 60 per cent of those financially supporting their folks making a change to their own housing - building a granny flat, moving in with their parents, or getting a smaller house.