We all know that raising children is an expensive business. In tough economic times parents are having to return to work sooner, and are struggling to foot the bill for expensive childcare. With the cost of childcare having risen 6% in the last 12 months alone1, a childminder or nursery is an expensive luxury.
Britain’s baby boomers holding the baby?
Grandparents are stepping in on the childcare front, contributing significant amounts of both time and financial aid to their loved ones. One in seven (14%) of the grandparents we surveyed who regularly spend time with their grandchildren said this amount of time had increased over the last year.
Generous with love and lolly
Nearly 6.1 million grandparents look after their grandchildren each week for free. On average they spend over five hours a week doing so, saving up to £860 a year on childcare costs. This could be saving the UK’s working parents over £5 billion a year in free childcare. The duties they’re relied upon to do cover everything from picking up children from school and helping them with their homework, to taking them to appointments and looking after them for a whole day if they’re off school or if their mum or dad is unwell.
They’re not just giving up their time, around a third (33%) of grandparents regularly contribute financially towards their grandchildren, with an average monthly bill of £123 – around 11% of their monthly income2.
If grandparents maintained this financial contribution until their grandchild reached 18 years old, the total could reach almost £26,000 – or £500 billion for every child in the UK.
Grandparents in different regions are also likely to have different reasons for ramping up their childcare duties.
- Welsh grandparents are the most likely to say it’s because the parents have had to go back to work early because of the recession (50% versus a national average of 37%).
- The Scots are most likely of all the regions to cite expensive childcare costs as the reason (20% versus national average of 13%). They’re also the keenest to spend time with their grandchildren (53% versus average of 44%).
- Those in the South are the most likely of all the regions to say that they can’t contribute financially, so they help out with childcare as an alternative (15% versus 10% average). Interestingly, Londoners are least likely to say this (5%).
Good news for all?
It’s very good news for parents – it saves them substantial sums of money and gives them peace of mind that their child is being cared for by someone they know and trust.
Grandparents love spending time with their grandchildren and at least one in five (21%) think they have more fun with their grandchildren than their grandchildren do with their parents – they also believe spending time with their grandchildren makes them feel younger.
However, the arrangement is not completely to mutual benefit – 20% of grandparents who regularly care for their grandchildren have had to put a holiday or leisure activities on hold due to their childcare duties.
Currently there is very little formal acknowledgement of the contribution they make to society. This needs to be taken seriously and more formally recognised.
1The Daycare Trust 2009
2Average weekly income for someone over 50 in UK is £294 a week or £1,176 a month according to the CEBR, 2009
RIAS commissioned the research, which was carried out between 27 – 30 October 2009. Total sample size was 1,290 UK-based grandparents, aged 50 years or above, with at least one grandchild.