We all remember Sunday afternoons spent at grandma's, probably being fed yet another slice of cake.
But beyond these happy memories, 'grandparenting' is a job in itself.
By looking after their grandkids, British grandparents make a free economic contribution to childcare. And that cost is huge.
Among the 14 million British grandparents, 85% of them provide at least one form of childcare towards their grandchildren, a new SunLife study has revealed.
Some 45% of the 2000 surveyed declared their main 'grandparenting' task consisted in babysitting.
More than a third (34%) revealed to be in charge of their grandkids mostly over the summer holidays, but a quarter of them said they were also helping during the regular work week as well.
This huge amount of time spent taking care of young children can come at a psychological cost.
While mostly said they were happy to provide this support, one in five (19%) stated to feel ‘occasionally’ pressured to look after their grandchildren.
An unpaid part-time job
Collectively, British grandparents save their families £22.5billion in childcare costs.
On average, they spend eight hours a week looking after their grandchildren. If they were to earn minimum wage for these efforts, their salary would be valued around £4,025 a year.
What about you?
To calculate the individual cost of childcare provided by individual grandparents, SunLife has designed a Grandparent salary calculator.
The tool is based on the number of hours spent on different kids-related tasks, such as driving the them around, babysitting or providing advice.
What is your grandparent salary? Let us know in the comments below!
