The social move towards entering parenthood later in life can effect the age at which a person will become debt free, according to Saga Life Insurance.
And, according to the over 50s specialist the number of people that are leaving it late in order to have children is on the increase.
Saga’s research found that 17 per cent of over 50s still have a mortgage, however, the number increases to 23 per cent of those that had children in their 40s – a group that is also likely to have outstanding debt on loans and still be paying university fees for their children or grandchildren, Saga claimed.
The survey shows that people who had children in their 40s will be three years older than average by the time they pay off their mortgage, 69.63 compared to 66.78.
It also found that these people are more likely to have a higher amount of outstanding debt on their home. The average person over 50 owes £62,262, but this figure is £76,719 for those that had children in their 40s.
Debt levels are likely to increase according to the survey because recent ONS data suggests that three times as many women over 40 had a baby in 2011 compared with 1991. 20 per cent surveyed said they were aged between 35 and 40 when they had their last child and one in twenty had their last child in their forties.
Saga services chief executive Roger Ramsden said: “20 years ago, by the time people retired the majority would have paid off their mortgage, their children would no longer be in education and would have left home long ago.
“Today people have mortgage and family responsibilities into later life – but the protection that they may have had through work or their own life cover often lapses, leaving a ‘protection gap’.”
