One in two grandparents help out with childcare

More than half of Scottish grandparents provide their grandchildren with childcare, according to new research.

The study showed 52 per cent of grandparents helped parents out, with 96 per cent doing so willingly and without any payment.

Almost two in five grandparents (39 per cent) said they instigated the childcare arrangement by offering to help. Just 1 per cent of those asked confessed to being reluctant to look after their grandchildren.

The How Scotland Lives research, commissioned by the Bank of Scotland and carried out online by Yougov, interviewed 3,039 adults between December last year and January this year.

The study revealed how generous grandparents are with both their time and money. One in ten provide their grandchildren with more than 20 hours of childcare per week.