Are grandparents the UK's forgotten workforce?
Limited childcare options are forcing an 'army of grannies' into unpaid action

Grandparents are providing hundreds of millions of hours of free childcare each year but their efforts are not always recognised.
The price of childcare has risen as its availability has shrunk, leaving 57% of parents with children under 13 relying on support from at least one grandparent, usually the grandmother.
Unpaid nannies
"More and more grannies are acting as unpaid nannies to their grandchildren," said Claer Barrett in the Financial Times. They might have thought their "child-rearing years" were behind them, but a "childcare crisis" has come along to "take another bite" out of "the more mature woman's retirement prospects".
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
This "army of grannies" provides 766 million hours of free childcare each year, said Tom Utley in the Daily Mail, saving parents "a cool £3.5 billion" in nursery costs.
The family is the "most enduringly humane and effective support network and welfare system known to man", so "striving" to look after grandchildren is "a labour of love".
Grandparents are expected to be ready to "spring into action as an unpaid social safety net", said The Guardian. But this "unpaid labour" is more than "just a family matter; it's an invisible pillar of modern economies".
The "unpaid, sometimes physically demanding" childcare that grandparents provide "supports the country's economic stability", while "remaining largely unrecognised". And the "assumption" that grandparenthood is "a calling" can be "alienating" for those with "more ambivalent feelings", who can be seen as "off-track".
Hidden scandal
Parents sometimes refuse to let granny and grandad play a part. An estimated two million grandparents have been denied contact with their grandchildren, in "one of Britain's biggest hidden scandals", said The Telegraph. Grandparents can sometimes be "threatened by police for sending presents or cards as it allegedly counts as harassment".
Sometimes, parents are not able to leave their children with older grandparents. Amy Grier said in The Times that her parents were approaching their eighties when her son was born. "My mum was diagnosed with Parkinson's" so "her hands mean she can't change a nappy". They couldn't "chase after a speedy toddler" and "picking a wriggling 12kg weight off the ground is no joke".
Any grandparents who want to calculate how much they would be paid for the hours they work as a "childcare provider, chauffeur, chef, cleaner, nurse or private tutor" to their grandchildren can calculate their "Grandparent Salary" on the insurer SunLife's website, said Barrett in the FT. The result "may surprise you".
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Chas Newkey-Burden has been part of The Week Digital team for more than a decade and a journalist for 25 years, starting out on the irreverent football weekly 90 Minutes, before moving to lifestyle magazines Loaded and Attitude. He was a columnist for The Big Issue and landed a world exclusive with David Beckham that became the weekly magazine’s bestselling issue. He now writes regularly for The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, Metro, FourFourTwo and the i new site. He is also the author of a number of non-fiction books.
-
5 editorial cartoons about ICE raids
Cartoons Political cartoonists take on ICE raids, harvesting Big Macs for Donald Trump, and what to do when Stephen Miller shows up at the front door
-
Grilled radicchio with caper and anchovy sauce recipe
The Week Recommends Smoky twist on classic Italian flavours is perfect to grill, drizzle and devour
-
What we know about Iran's nuclear programme
In the Spotlight The global nuclear watchdog has declared Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations for the first time in 20 years
-
Why Vietnam is dropping its two-child policy
Under The Radar Relaxation of family limit to boost birth rates – but 'baby boom' not certain
-
Disney is still shielding Americans from an episode of 'Bluey'
Talking Points The US culture war collides with a lucrative children's show
-
'Making memories': the scourge of modern parenting?
In The Spotlight Meghan Markle sends her children emails of each day's 'moments' but is constant 'memory-making' just another burden for parents to bear?
-
5 'slow TV' shows for overstimulated kids
The Week Recommends In an era of fast-paced content and short attention spans, the slow TV movement can be a boon to parents
-
Chappell Roan and those parenting comments
Talking Point Gen Z popstar’s claim that parents are unhappy has been widely criticised
-
Has World Book Day become a 'horror show'?
Talking Point Annual event to encourage children to read for pleasure is sore spot for parents under 'growing pressure' to create character costumes
-
Should we give 'gentle parenting' a time out?
Talking Point Popular, empathy-heavy parenting technique facing a stern ticking off
-
'No contact': Family estrangement is on the rise for young people choosing peace
The Explainer Young adults are quicker to cut off toxic family members these days