Bank of grandparents is doing a roaring trade
LAST Sunday was Grandparents’ Day and research has found that 80 per cent provide some sort of childcare for their grandchildren, which saves families in the UK about £22billion each year. Almost half of the 2000 grandparents over-50s experts SunLife quizzed said they provided babysitting services while more than a third said they helped with childcare during the summer holidays to allow parents to continue working. Of those questioned, 25 per cent provided childcare during the working week and one in five admitted to taking their grandchildren to and from school. The research also found more than 29 per cent of grandparents are relied upon to look after grandchildren when they are sick, while one in six grandparents provide a taxi service, taking their grandkids to after school clubs, activities and hobbies. While the amount of support grandparents offer varies hugely, with some offering a couple of hours a week, others provide full-time childcare through the week. On average, grandparents who offer regular help spend eight hours a week looking after their grandchildren. SunLife has launched a new tool so grandparents can calculate their “grandparent salary” and parents can see just how much they are saving on childcare costs.
This suggests that if grandparents were paid for eight hours a week, they would receive an annual salary of £4027 while those who offer five days a week, at eight hours a day (45 hours a week), would end up with a salary of just over £22,500.
Ian Atkinson, of SunLife, said: “Grandparents are often the unsung heroes of the family, spending hours helping with childcare and offering practical and emotional support, not to mention saving parents thousands of pounds in childcare costs.
“Research suggests most are happy with the amount of support they give.”