Grandparents' growing role as the babysitters

Eight out of 10 families rely on grandparents to help them out with childcare but many are unhappy with the arrangement, a survey showed.
By The Newsroom
Published 21st May 2010, 21:33 BST
Updated 21st May 2010, 21:33 BST

Around 84 per cent of people said their own parents look after their children at least once a week, with a third of families wanting to live closer to grandparents, according to website FindaProperty.com.

On average people wanted to live around 28 miles away from their own parents, although three-quarters of those questioned wanted to live within 20 miles of them.

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A further third of people hoped that their parents would move home to be closer to them.

But despite many families relying on grandparents to help out with childcare, a lot of parents are unhappy with aspects of the arrangement.

Around 35 per cent said the main drawback of having grandparents look after their children is they have different standards.

And 19 per cent said their parents found it difficult to accept the way they are bringing up their children, while 15 per cent disliked the the fact that their parents disciplined their children differently.

The research also found 14 per cent of parents did not like the fact grandparents had to stay overnight when they were looking after their children.