How middle-aged cope with cancer costs

Monday February 27th, 2017

Middle-aged patients with cancer are reverting to the "Bank of Mum and Dad" because of the financial costs of the disease, a charity says today.

The charity found more than 2,000 people in their 40s and 50s who have returned to a parental home and sold their own homes to pay their costs.

And more than 30,000 of these middle-aged cancer patients have borrowed money from their parents, according to Macmillan Cancer Support.

The charity says there are 700,000 people with cancer with no savings to fall back on.

Chief executive Lynda Thomas said: “It is heart-breaking that people in their 40s and 50s with cancer might have to go cap in hand to their parents to ask for money simply to keep a roof over their head or put food on the table. The cost of cancer is robbing people of their independence and leaving them embarrassed, ashamed and dependent.

“Borrowing money could cause tension amongst families at a time when people need support more than ever.

"While Macmillan is here for anyone facing money worries, we also need the Government, healthcare professionals and the banking and insurance sector to play their part to ease this burden.”

Terry White, from Nottinghamshire, diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma at 56, told how he borrowed from his elderly parents.

He said: “Life before cancer had been comfortable. I’d worked hard and saved hard but six months into an eight-month chemo regime our savings had dwindled to nothing and our finances had spiralled out of control.

“I had to claim benefits for the first time in my life, with the threat of our home being repossessed hanging over us. It got so bad that I had to borrow £2,000 from my 78-year old parents. It was deeply embarrassing that at this time in my life I was going cap in hand to ask for their support."

Tags: Cancer | Elderly Health | NHS | UK News

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