According to the study into modern families and households, just over 15 per cent of adults with children at home are also providing financial support to their parents.

Meanwhile, parents with children under 18 living at home are likely to be paying out around £3,505 a year supporting both generations, around a fifth of the average UK salary.

Even parents with children over the age of 18 are still caught by the costs, with the average parent facing £2,543 to look after both older and younger relatives.

Of the adults that support their parents, 45 per cent provide money for every day living costs such as food, while 36 per cent contribute to all bill payments. Around 27 per cent give money for trips out, while 21 per cent gave money for rent and mortgage.

Of those who fund both generations, 65 per cent said that their finances were under strain due to the cost, while 58 per cent said that the lifestyle they had envisaged at their age had not emerged due to the costs.

Co-operative head of banking Robin Taylor said: “This report shows the changing nature of modern families and cost pressures of living in the current economic climate, are placing real financial pressures on the shoulders of today’s middle generation.

“Compared with previous generations, the higher costs of housing, providing care for the elderly and everyday living, have resulted in a squeezed generation, who have to re-adjust their views of the lifestyle they thought they would have been enjoying at their age.”