The material in this section is drawn from a number of recent research studies which are listed at the end.

Demographics...

• The UK has approximately 13 million grandparents
• One in every three people over the age of 50 is a grandparent 1
• By the age of 54, one in every two people is a grandparent 2
• Grandparents have on average 4.4 grandchildren, fewer than in previous years 2
• Three quarters of the UK population is part of a family of three or more generationt 6
• One in two grandparents has a living parent 6
• Over one third of grandparents under the age of 60 still have a dependent child of their own living at home

Bringing up grandchildren...

• In the USA in 1997 over 5% of all children under 18 were living in homes maintained by their grandparents 7
• About 1% of grandparents in the UK have grandchildren living with them 3
• The majority of UK grandparents bringing up their grandchildren had experienced financial difficulties, with very little external financial support 4

Daycare...

• The value of childcare by UK grandparents has been calculated at over £1 billion a year (children under 12, at a cost of £2.97 an hour) 8
• One in five children under 16 years old are looked after in the daytime by grandparents 3
• Children in two parent families where both parents work are the most likely to receive daytime care from a grandparent 3
• More than a third of grandparents spend the equivalent of three days a week caring for their grandchildren 5
• In the past two generations, the number of children cared for by grandparents has jumped from 33% to 82%. 8

Attitudes...

• Only one person in ten in the UK agrees that "Grandparents have little to teach grandchildren." 6
• Three quarters of UK adults believe that "With so many working mothers, families need grandparents to help more and more." 6
• Grandfathers are more likely to feel that they are being taken advantage of as a source of childcare. More than a quarter expressed this concern, compared with only 19% of grandmothers interviewed. 5
• 39% of grandparents would like to have a life free from too many family duties 6
• 64% of the population agrees that a government subsidy should be offered to grandparents who are involved in regular childcare. 8

sources
1 Grundy E, Murphy M and Shelton N (1999) Looking Beyond the Household: Intergenerational perspectives on living kin and contacts with kin in Great Britain. Population Trends 97:33-41
2 Dench G and Ogg J, Grandparenting in Britain: A Baseline Study, (July 2002) Institute of Community Studies.
3 Clarke L and and Cairns H, 'Grandparents and the Care of Children: the Research Evidence' in ed B Broad, Kinship Care (2001) Russell House Publishing
4 Richards A, Second Time Around, (2001) Family Rights Group
5 Prasad R, 'Lynchpins' of family spend three days a week with grandchildren'
(14/12/ 2000) The Guardian.
6 Dench D, Ogg J and Thomson K. The Role of Grandparents' in eds Jowell R, Curtis J, Park A and Thomson K British Social Attitudes: the 16th Report (1999), Ashgate Publishing Ltd.
7 Bryson K and Casper LM, 'Co-resident Grandparents and Grandchildren' in Current Population Reports May 1999, US Department of Commerce
8 Research for the Abbey National by the Future Foundation, 2002.