Interestingly, they found only a small proportion, 4.5 per cent, of successful first home buyers received an outright cash transfer of more than $5000 from their parent around the time of their home purchase. A further 2.6 per cent did, however, benefit from an inheritance around that time.

Perhaps the most surprising finding, however, is the extent to which parents are helping in non-cash in hand ways to shot put their children into home ownership.

While most first home buyers (74 per cent) lived in private rentals before their purchase, 13.4 per cent had been “co-residing” with parents. A further 4.5 per cent had been living rent-free in dwellings provided by family or friends (such as an investment property or holiday home). Nice work if you can get it. The remaining first home buyers had been either renting in public housing or living rent-free in homes provided by non-family members or friends.

Such “in-kind” transfers from parents or family members to aspiring buyers were found by the researchers to play a critical role in helping them into the market.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, living in a rent-free home led to a threefold increase in the chance of entering home ownership compared to someone in the private rental market trying to save a deposit.

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Also, perhaps unsurprisingly, living with higher socio-economic parents was also more beneficial than living with lower socio-economic parents – the latter perhaps requiring more financial help from children to cover household bills or being less able to cover other costs to boost a child’s first home deposit.

If it’s home ownership you’re after, the best strategy, increasingly (and sadly) for aspiring buyers is clear: choose your parents wisely.

“The positive relationship between parent and child ownership status has been well established,” the researchers found, while noting they did not have the data to analyse other sources of parental support, such as parents going “guarantor” on loans or making cash transfers later in the loan life to help pay it down.

The truth is that the bank of mum and dad – estimated by some to now be the nation’s ninth-largest mortgage lender – is increasingly being forced to work in myriad important ways – for those lucky enough to have access to it, of course.

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This rising intergenerational transfer of wealth (between generations) is fuelling greater “intra-generation” (within generations) inequality of wealth.

For the parents who help, it means channelling more of their financial resources – perhaps otherwise earmarked for retirement – into housing their kids. Necessary, perhaps, when governments have abandoned the field.

“The results point to the growth in family welfare to meet housing needs,” the researchers find. “Relying on parents and other family and friends for one’s housing is thus around three times as common as relying on government-subsidised public housing.”

Lower-income Australians, migrants, singles and high-school leavers were identified as the groups in society least likely to make the jump into stable home ownership.

To help those without access to the bank of mum and dad, the researchers suggest “tax-free” savings accounts for accumulating home deposits, the expansion of credit availability for borrowers who lack parental support and greater targeting of financial education to young adults to help them with strategies to save for a home.

“It is clear that without more direct attention to the paths of home ownership, the differences in home ownership across socio-economic backgrounds … are unlikely to decrease.”

A disturbing truth, indeed.

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