Forget €5 pension hike, give granny a break from childminding instead
In 2015, a ‘Growing Up in Ireland’ report found that the most common form of non-parental childcare was provided by relatives, with grandparents looking after one-third of infants in childcare.
For generations, every Irish child loved visiting their grandparents. It was a Sunday ritual that came with the unspoken promise of sweets and maybe a 50 pence piece from granny’s purse on the way out the door.
During the Celtic Tiger era, many lucky children saw that 50p inflated to a fiver.
But as the economy took a tumble, it knocked the traditional relationship between children and their grandparents off the pedestal where it had always stood.
Instead of Sunday visits, thousands of toddlers and schoolchildren are dropped off as early as 7am and it was granny or granddad that is waiting for them at the school gate in the evening.
In 2015, a ‘Growing Up in Ireland’ report found that the most common form of non-parental childcare was provided by relatives, with grandparents looking after one-third of infants in childcare.
At the same time, researchers at Trinity College concluded that grandparents providing over 60 hours’ care per month experienced significantly more depressive symptoms.
Read the full article on The Irish Independent Website
