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With the summer school holidays in full swing, parents may find themselves struggling to juggle the stress of work and childcare without spending considerable sums on professional help.
It’s no surprise that many grandparents are the first choice for childcare over the holiday period, and a new calculator suggests their ‘work’ could be worth an average of almost £11,000 a year.
According to a study by the insurance company for people over 50, SunLife, up to 43 percent of grandparents help look after their grandchildren during school holidays and work experience days, a figure that will increase by 6 percent from 2023.
In doing so, they save parents thousands of pounds a year on childcare costs – a babysitter costs an average of £11.68 an hour, or around £1,265 during the summer holidays.
Saving money: Grandparents caring for their grandchildren can save parents thousands of dollars each year
In total, grandparents are expected to save their children £7.7bn during the summer school holidays alone by looking after their grandchildren, and up to £18bn over the year.
Worryingly, a fifth of grandparents say their children would not be able to cope financially without their help in caring for them.
Mark Screeton, CEO of SunLife, said: ‘School holidays can be a really tricky time for working parents, especially those with primary school-aged children, as they suddenly need to find childcare to cover the six hours a day their children are usually at school.
“That’s in addition to any before- or after-school care they rely on during the school term.”
How much do grandparents spend on their grandchildren?
Grandparents provide an average of 18 hours of childcare per week during the summer holidays, according to SunLife, up from 16.54 hours last year.
In most cases, 83 percent, these grandparents provide their care free of charge.
But they also spend their own money while doing it: an average of £50 a week, or £300 during the summer holidays.
As many as 67 percent of grandparents said they pay for their grandchildren’s meals while they are with them, without expecting a contribution from their parents.
Some 59 per cent pay for activities, with 13 per cent even claiming to pay for clubs and hobbies, spending £18 a week to do so.
“Holiday clubs can be very expensive, and babysitters or childminders even more so. So it’s fortunate that so many parents can rely on their grandparents to help out,” said Screeton.
‘And while some grandparents may struggle to cope with the physical and financial impact of helping out, most are more than happy to help if it means spending time with their grandchildren, and the vast majority are willing to spend their own money in the process.’
What is your ‘grandpa salary’?
Although very few grandparents, just four percent, resent giving away their time, many will be aware of the costs they incur by doing so.
Grandparents help with a variety of tasks while caring for their grandchildren and the hours they work could equate to earning thousands of dollars a year if they were paid for their services.
SunLife Grandparent Salary Calculator It looks at the average salary for a variety of roles commonly taken on by grandparents, such as nanny, cook and cleaner, and calculates how much money they could earn if they did the same work in paid employment.
It suggests the real “salary” of a grandparent spending 16 hours a week caring for their grandchild could be £9,790 in a year.
This equates to one hour per week of cooking, cleaning, shopping and driving, plus two hours of homework help and ten hours of babysitting.
Grandparents who spend an average of 18 hours caring for their grandchildren could earn a “grandparent’s wage” of £10,942 over a year.
Grandparents could get credits for child care
While you may not be willing to charge your children for caring for your grandchildren, some grandparents will be eligible to receive child care loans from the Government that can supplement their National Insurance contributions up to that point.
To qualify, you must care for a family member under the age of twelve and be under state pension age, currently 66.
The child’s parents will also need to be in work and earn around the National Insurance threshold, as well as claiming child benefit.
While grandparents will not receive actual payments from the Government, their future state pension entitlements will be enhanced.
However, if you already have 35 years of National Insurance contributions, then you will not get any of these credits as you will already be entitled to the full state pension.
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