Grandparents are providing valuable childcare supports, but more Government investment is needed for equal access to formal childcare and improvements in its quality, researchers have said.

The study of the types of childcare used by children at different ages, and its impact on their development, found families of lower social classes were less likely to use non-parental childcare, either by relatives or centre-based care.

In contrast, non-parental childcare was more likely to be used by households with a high income, where the primary care giver works full-time, or where all parents present are working.

While this was also the case for lone parent families, Maynooth University lecturers Delma Byrne and Catriona O’Toole linked it to targeted provision of community childcare and subsidised after-school childcare places for such families.

Read the full article by Niall Murray on the Irish Examiner Website