How childcare is a real family affair

With the cost of full-time nursery care estimated at over £8,000 - or four fifths of the salary of someone earning minimum wage - parents are turning to grandparents to ease the burden of the costs of 'babysitting'.

Almost two-thirds of grandparents regularly look after their grandchildren, with 44 per cent spending over 16 hours per month in their company, and one in seven having the children for more than 40 hours per month.

Only one per cent of grandparents are paid to be carers, and almost three quarters actually end up spending money on increased food bills, transport costs, or even loss of earnings.

Andrew Goodsell, chief executive of the Saga Group Ltd, said: "Looking after children is a serious commitment, but grandparents often choose to provide this support and place the monetary implications of reducing their own working hours into second place.

"However, it's enjoyment rather than obligation that drives them to spend this much time with their grandchildren with 36 per cent of respondents stating that they do it because they enjoy it."

April 01^st 2008

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