It seems that ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’ is being joined by ‘Bank of Grandma and Grandpa’ as an essential part of the modern family’s survival plan. The post war ‘Golden Generation’ of current grandparents are now being relied upon more and more to help their less well-off offspring raise their own families, as tough economic times continue to bite hard.
New research from Aviva has revealed that a massive 7 million grandparents are child-minding and helping around the house whilst mums and dads go to work. On average each grandparent will care for two grandchildren for around 13 hours per week – the equivalent child-minding costs are about £2,400 per year – that amounts to £33 billion saving for UK parents each year.
And grandparents’ work doesn’t stop there, with 28% regularly doing the school run, and 15% helping out with household bills. However, the additional childcare is taking a toll on the older generation. Many are already working for longer until retirement, and 10% of grandparents say they feel worse off as a result of childcare for their grandchildren, and 1 in 20 saying that childcare prevented them from doing paid work.
Age UK commented, “the high cost of childcare in many areas can mean that for many families, support provided by grandparents is a financial necessity, without which they would not be able to continue working”. With the cost of raising a child to their 21st birthday rising to an estimated at £270,000, the work of grandparents ise likely to become more and more essential in raising a child.
Families are urged to ensure anyone who earns an income, or does essential non-paid work such as child-minding or the school run, have enough life insurance cover to ensure the work can be paid for if they died or were incapacitated. The UK’s increasing reliance on grandparents brings the importance of life insurance even more sharply into focus.
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I think this is a true representation of comtempory Britain as a result of the current global economic crisis and high levels of inflation.
ReplyDeleteWow £270,000 to raise 1 child that's a lot of money, maybe I won't have kids after all.
ReplyDeleteA lot of households simply can't afford to have one parent off on Paternity leave. Given the current circumstances I can see why grandparents are being asked to take care of children while the parents are working. Unless they are offered the chance to work from home on the same wage they normally get paid, they simply cannot be away from work too long.
ReplyDeleteWith all the teen pregnancies and retirement age getting higher it is likely that even a child's grandparents will be working and then who will look after these kids.
ReplyDeleteI think people should take a little more responsibility and have kids when they can actually afford to have them.
ReplyDeleteThen they would not have to rely on the bank of grandparents, or the benefits that are given out all too easily by the government.
But if you have dependants, you should ensure that they will be cared for if the unforeseeable happens and you are sadly no longer around to care for your children.
Even taking responsibility doesn't always work. My son was born just after the recession hit - that's not something that can be planned on, and I don't agree that the state of the Bank of England should be a controlling factor in my family's growth! I see the point being made, but it's just not feasible if you want to start a family.
ReplyDeleteGrandparents are really your best friends when you have children - with mortgages sky-high, salary increases freezing, and childcare costs more than a day's work at minimum wage (or even better wages!) you have to either quit work or find a grandparent to help out.
As for benefits, they're not handed out that easily - paternity leave, for instance, isn't an option unless you earn so little it will make no difference (part time minimum wage) or so much you can afford to effectively lose 2 weeks salary.