and enjoying it.” Sue Green, of Saga, a business that sells insurance and products to the over-50s, said the majority of parents may not have planned to have their children living with them well into their 20s or 30s. “Most will be more than happy to house them in the family home rent-free because it might help their kids get on the property ladder sooner,” she said. “Children who don’t pay rent may contribute in other ways like buying groceries, family takeaways or doing odd jobs around the home.” Angus Hanton, co-founder of a thinktank called the Intergenerational Foundation, said older generations were “the architects of the housing crisis” and children should not be blamed for staying at home. “The under-30s have suffered a fall in average incomes of about 20% since the 2008 downturn. Rents and car insurance have never been so high and mortgage lending rules have been tightened for the young but not for older buy-to-let investors, who squeeze out the young,” he said. “Student-fee debt is rising rapidly yet many jobs on offer – zero- hour and short-term contracts – are turning younger workers into second-class citizens. Rather than blaming the young, we should be standing up for their interests so they can afford to build lives of their own.” Jenna Gavin, 29, lives in Southport, Merseyside, in the family home where she grew up. She moved out