One in three working mothers depends on grandparents for child care, according to the action group Grandparents Plus. 'These mothers couldn't be in a job without that contribution,' says its chief executive Sam Smethers. They provide moral and financial support as well as vital child care. Yet modern grandparents have busy lives of their own, as Sally Williams reports for the Telegraph. Click here to read full article.
A local authority is about to take a child into care because their parents can no longer care for them. It could place this child with a foster carer, paying them a fostering allowance of at least £146 a week. Or – mindful of the statutory requirements of the Children Act 1989 – it could find a grandparent or other relative who could do this instead. It is probably better for the child to stay within their extended family. After all, that’s what most children want. So at the 11th hour (literally) it calls the grandparent and says: “Will you take this child because otherwise they will have to go into care?” With a proverbial gun to the head, the grandparent agrees. Then what? Click here to read full article.
Grandparents in low-income families are risking financial hardship by abandoning paid work to provide free childcare for their grandchildren, a report warned.
Charity Grandparents Plus and the Equality and Human Rights Commission found that one in three families relies on grandparents to provide childcare on a weekly basis, rising to one in two among single parent households.
The groups said grandparents in the poorest families were coming under increasing pressure to look after grandchildren, with working class grandmothers who were still of working age the most likely to be providing free care. Click here to read full Channel 4 news report.
The costs of failing to act are simply too great to ignore...
We welcome the political attention that social care is receiving. However, we are in danger of seeing this most important of debates become reduced to election soundbites and poster slogans.
Click here to read the joint comment in The Times Online.
A comprehensive review of the family justice system will be announced today to give fathers and grandparents greater access to children after separation. Click here to read full article.
Woman's Hour debates issues affecting grandparents, to listen to the discussion click here
Currently one in three families depend on grandparents for childcare. And it’s likely that this figure will rise, with grandparents playing an increasingly important role in supporting young families. So is it time that grandparents were given better rights, and more official recognition of their role in society? And if so, what should this recognition consist of? Should their rights be supported by legislation and the courts, or are families best left to themselves to negotiate domestic arrangements? Click here to hear the full interview.
Sam Smethers, Chief Executive of national charity Grandparents Plus said: 'We welcome this study because it reveals the huge contribution that grandparents make to family life day in, day out. We know that so many families depend on them. It is time for us to take this seriously and recognise the contribution they are making. Click here to read article.
Grandparents aren't the only carers: a forgotten army of aunts and uncles are raising their relatives' children. This month the Grandparents Plus charity lobbied Parliament with the message that while a family member is often best able to provide a loving home for a child who needs support, these surrogate parents deserve to have the financial and practical support that is available to foster parents, and in many cases they need it. One in three does not even receive child benefit.
No one knows how many more informal arrangements are made by families to care for children who would otherwise need local authority support. The cost of keeping a child in the care system is £40,000 a year. Aunts, uncles, older siblings and godparents do it for nothing, and provide a more stable life for the children they take in than the care system, says Sam Smethers, chief executive of Grandparents Plus.
Click here to read full article.
According to a survey by Grandparents Plus, one in three grandparent carers is living on less than £200 a week. To read the Sunday Times article click here.
There are thought to be 200,000 grandparents taking on the role as full-time carer for their grandchildren. A new survey by Grandparents Plus reveals that more than a third of them are living below the poverty line and struggling to cope, overlooked by children’s services, without respite care, emotional or financial support. Today Grandparents Plus will join forces with other members of the Kinship Care Alliance to lobby Parliament to call for greater recognition, respect and reward for family and friends carers. One grandmother tells Jenni about her struggles to care for her young grandsons. To discuss the wider issues Jenni is joined by Sam Smethers, Chief Executive of Grandparents Plus and Dawn Primarolo MP, Minister of State for Children, Young People and Families. Click here to hear full interview.
A new generation of grandparents are closer than ever to their teenage grandchildren playing a critical role throughout their everyday lives, a unique survey published by national charity Grandparents Plus, reveals today.
'We need to do more to recognise and value this relationship because it's good for families and good for society' Sam Smethers, Chief Exec, Grandparents Plus.
Click on links below to read the BBC articles.
'My grandma's a second mum to me'
Teenagers 'close to grandparents'
A new Institute of Education report claims that children cared for by grandparents are not as 'school ready' as those in day care. You can read Grandparents Plus' response in full on the Guardian's Comment is Free website here. Related articles:
The Times 09 Feb 09 here
The Guardian 09 Feb 09 here
