New Curtin University research has found parents want to treat their children equally when helping them onto the property ladder.
With housing becoming increasingly difficult to afford, many Australian parents are stepping in to help their children buy their first home.
The study surveyed 831 parents from families with two children and researchers found parents are largely guided by fairness, with the way they help one child strongly linked to the support they plan to give their siblings.
Lead author and PhD candidate Paul Vivian, from Curtin Business School, said parents wanted to help their children become homeowners while making sure they treated their family fairly.
"Our research shows when parents help one child buy a home, they are much more likely to help their other children too," Mr Vivian said.
"Parents appear to take a consistent approach, rather than simply favouring one child over another."
The research also found parents were more likely to help children they believed were struggling financially.
Parents were 16.2 percentage points more likely to help a child they considered poor or very poor than one they viewed as financially comfortable or wealthy.
The relationship between parents and their children also mattered, with those who shared a stronger emotional bond more likely to receive help.
However, the research found little evidence parents consistently favoured children based on their age or gender. One exception was older sons with younger sisters were more likely to receive assistance than other sibling combinations.
The researchers also examined whether parents expected anything in return for helping their children buy a home.
Just over half of the children due to receive assistance could expect help without any strings attached.
For the rest, parents could anticipate something in return, such as repayment of a loan, a say in where or what type of home their child bought or help with their future care needs.
The findings showed parents who planned to help one child without expecting anything in return were also much more likely to offer the same type of support to their other child.
Co-author John Curtin Distinguished Professor Rachel Ong ViforJ said family support could make a significant difference to young people trying to enter an increasingly difficult housing market, but it was not an option available to everyone.
"Parental support can help young people overcome one of the biggest barriers to home ownership, which is saving enough money to buy a home," Professor ViforJ said.
"But when access to that help depends on your family's financial circumstances, it can widen the gap between those who have a helping hand and those who have to manage on their own."
The researchers said families could benefit from planning ahead to decide how best to support their children while protecting their own financial security.
They also suggested governments consider better savings options and tax arrangements for parents who want to help their children but have limited financial resources, while ensuring people without access to family support remain a priority for direct government assistance.
The research, 'Parental Support for First Home Buyers: The Role of Fairness' was published in the International Journal of Housing Policy.
