Research commissioned by Quilter Cheviot Investment Management has revealed the level of uncertainty among UK adults when it comes to saving for professional care for their parents or family members in later life.

The majority of UK adults (61%) either did not think their parents would need to spend time in a care home or did not know if their parents would need to.
 
When asked about how much a UK care home costs per person, 27% of respondents believed the average cost to be between £1,000-2,000 a month, 24% believed it was between £2,000-3,000 a month; while 19% estimated the cost between £3,000-4,000 a month.

According to Which? research, in 2016-2017 the average weekly cost of a room in a residential home in the UK was £606 (£2,424 a month), while a room in a nursing home cost £802 a week (£3,208 a month). 
 
Pamela Reid, client services director at Quilter Cheviot, said: “Advances in medicine mean we’re living longer and healthier lives, however our health isn’t something we can always control.

“While life expectancy has increased significantly, that doesn’t necessarily equate to a healthy life expectancy.

“It’s important not to ignore the fact that this could also mean we need assistance later on in life and may have to plan for it.”
 
Quilter Cheviot’s poll also found that over a third (39%) of respondents could not estimate how long their parent or family member may need to spend in a care home.

Twenty-eight per cent of UK adults estimated that family members may need to spend between one and three years in a care home.

This dropped to 10% for between three and four years and to 6% for between five and six years.

A report by Age UK earlier this year found that around 27% of people live in care homes for more than three years.
 
The research was conducted online by YouGov on behalf of Quilter Cheviot with 1,525 UK consumers aged 18+ with a minimum of £100k of investable assets and living parents.