Nursery World - Thousands of grandparents a year give up work to look after grandchildren

Around 25 grandparents a day leave their job to bring up their grandchildren and as a result often end up in poverty, warns a new report.

Sam Smethers, chief executive of Grandparents Plus, said, ‘Grandparents and other relatives do the right thing for their families, stepping in to care for vulnerable children. Yet they are driven to give up their jobs because they are not entitled to parental leave, even though they are acting as the child’s parent. It makes absolutely no sense for the carer or the taxpayer for them to give up work unnecessarily and be forced into a lifetime on benefits as a result.’

Yesterday grandparents and kinship carers from across the country attended a national summit in Westminster hosted by Grandparents Plus.

Participants met with children’s minister Tim Loughton, local authority lead members for children’s services and David Simmonds, chair of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board, to call for better support and recognition of the care they provide.

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