Grandparents are risking hardship to take on free childcare role

GRANDPARENTS in low-income families are risking financial hardship by abandoning paid work to provide free childcare for their grandchildren. Charity Grandparents Plus and the Equality and Human Rights Commission found one in three families relies on grandparents to provide childcare on a weekly basis, rising to one in two among single-parent households.

The groups said grandparents in the poorest families were coming under increasing pressure to look after grandchildren.

But they warned that grandparents were likely to have had to give up work or reduce their hours in order to take on the role, affecting their household income, their pension rights and even their health.

The groups claimed that two of the government's aims, namely to get more lone parents into work and increasing the employment rate among older people, were conflicting with each other, as grandparents were providing free childcare for single parents, rather than being in work themselves.

They are calling for the financial, emotional and practical support given by grandparents in low-income families to be factored into public policy.