Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
bank of mum and dad

bank of mum and dad

6.8
Parents who give money to their adult children to pay for big costs like a house or university
  • noun
  • UK
translation icon : banco de mamá y papá
  • Many young adults rely on the bank of mum and dad to help pay for their first home.

Examples

  • The bank of mum and dad supported her education by covering her tuition fees.

  • During the financial crisis, a lot of people turned to the bank of mum and dad for assistance with their bills.

  • Hikes to the price of first class stamps and the Bank of Mum and Dad calling in lawyers to claw back gifts.

Surface Forms

bank of mum and dad singular
banks of mum and dad plural

Morphology

bank + of + mum + and + dad

The phrase literally casts 'mum and dad' as a 'bank' — a provider of money — and this compositional mapping is directly inferable from the constituents. The noun + of + possessor pattern is standard and the metaphor (parents as financial backers) is straightforward and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the words will likely understand the meaning.

Etymology

Bank of mum and dad imagines parents as a simple bank where mum and dad lend or give money to help their children. So, it means 'parents who provide money for big costs like a first home, university, or a new business'.