The Conservative Party has said that if it was in power it would consider making access to tax credits more flexible so that working parents can benefit if the children are looked after by their grandparents.
In a speech to Age Concern last week, Tory leader David Cameron called grandparents 'the unofficial childminders of Britain'. He said, 'To get help with childcare bills, you should not have to put your children in a state-run nursery. The money could follow the choices of parents themselves, and that choice will often be for grandparents to look after their children.'
But the National Childminding Association said that the Mr Cameron's use of the word 'childminder' was confusing informal care by family and friends with professional home-based childcarers.
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