Around 200,000 grandparents in the UK are acting as full-time parents to their grandchildren. Those who take on the role and act as guardians to their grandchildren sacrifice the usual relationship with their grandchildren and the privilege of being able to see them when they want and spoil them, say grandparent support groups.
Research by charity Grandparents Plus shows that most grandparent carers are under 65 years old and four out of ten are likely to be raising children alone. Often they have no other option than to take on their grandchildren who otherwise would be put into care.
Despite there being no official figures on the number of full-time grandparent carers in the UK, Grandparents Plus says its records suggest the number of grandparents looking after their grandchildren is on the rise. New guidance being introduced in April, which will recommend that local authorities look to family members in the first instance to provide care, will only add to their growing numbers.
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