Warning over childcare "time bomb"

Grandparents are being asked to help with childcare costs

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Thursday, 06, Sep 2007 01:37

The number of adults turning to grandparents to help finance childcare has almost doubled over the past year, new research has indicated.

Some 21 per cent of people with young children have asked their own parents to help fund the cost of providing childcare for their offspring within the past year, according to the latest research conducted on behalf of engage Mutual Assurance.

That compared to just 11 per cent of parents who asked for financial help last year, the friendly society stressed.

Single parents are more likely than couples to ask for financial assistance, with the survey finding that 29 per cent of those bringing up children on their own had turned to their own parents for help.

Grandparents are now estimated to be giving their adult children an average of £598.42 every six months to help them with childcare costs, researchers say.

But despite the fact that childcare costs tend to be higher in London, it is parents in the south-west who are most likely to ask their children's grandparents for help. Some 32 per cent of adults with children there said they had asked their own parents to help them with childcare costs, while 28 per cent of people in the north-east had made a similar request.

However the study also revealed that Britain's older population is being financially supported by the younger generation, with 16 per cent of people found to be helping elderly relatives with costs such as utility and heating bills.

Commenting on the research engage Mutual Assurance spokesman Karl Elliott said: "Parents are increasingly funding their children through adulthood, a process that goes well beyond university or first jobs.

"Conversely our research also shows that children, from as early as their mid twenties, are also supporting their elderly parents financially and we expect this to become more common in the years ahead," he added.