Grandparents will save parents £7.7bn this summer by providing free childcare during the six-week break

29^th July 2024
5 min read

PRESS RELEASE

• 43% of grandparents look after their grandkids in the school holidays and on inset days – an increase of 6% on 2023
• On average, grandparents give up 18 hours a week to look after their grandkids during school holidays
• With a nanny costing an average of £11.68 an hour, grandparents are saving families £7.7bn in the summer holidays alone
• Most grandparents are also spending their own money while providing free childcare – £50 a week on average
• SunLife’s ‘Grandparent Salary calculator’ works out how much grandparents would earn if they were paid for equivalent services

Grandparents providing free childcare during the school holidays are saving families thousands of pounds a year as a result – according to the latest research from over 50s experts SunLife.

SunLife polled more than 2,000 grandparents and found there has been a rise in the number of grandparents being relied upon to look after grandchildren during the school holidays and on inset days.

More than four in ten (43%) now provide ‘holiday’ care and are giving up 18 hours a week on average – up from 16.54 hours last year and equivalent to almost three days a week.

With the average cost of a nanny currently £11.68 per hour according to PayScale, that’s up to £1,265 in equivalent care saved over the summer holidays alone, and £2,953 across all holidays in the school year.

Combined, UK grandparents are saving families £18bn in holiday care costs every year – £7.7bn of which is saved during the six-week summer break.^[1]

Spending their own money

The research shows that, not only are grandparents offering their services for free, but the vast majority (83%, up from 81% last year) are spending their own money to do so.

More than two thirds (67%) pay for food and snacks for their grandkids (£14/wk) and six in ten (59%) pay for activities out and about (£26/wk). One in eight (13%) pay for hobbies and clubs (£18) and one in five (18%) cover the cost of the kit needed for those hobbies (£21/wk) – along with transport costs, materials for activities at home and other expenses, that is an average of £50.43 a week, which is more than £700 across all school holidays and £300 over the summer break alone.

While most (63%) say they are more than happy to do it – and don’t mind spending their own money doing so – 11% say that they love doing it but can’t really afford the extra expense that comes with it.

What if grandparents were paid?

One in five (18%) grandparents say their grandkids parents would not cope financially without their help – but only actually 4% resent giving their time for free – so just how much are the UK’s grandparents saving young families in childcare costs?

SunLife’s Grandparent Salary calculator includes the average pay for the many roles grandparents are taking on (including childminder, tutor, taxi driver and nurse) so grandparents can calculate their ‘grandparent salary’ and parents can see just how much they are saving on childcare costs.

Mark Screeton, CEO at SunLife said: “The school holidays can be a really tricky time for working parents, especially those with primary school aged kids, as they suddenly need to find childcare to cover the six hours a day that their children are usually at school. That’s on top of any before- or after-school care that they rely on during term time.

“Holiday clubs can be really expensive, and childminders or nannies even more so. So it’s lucky that so many parents are able to rely on grandparents to help out. In fact, our research shows that an increasing number of grandparents are now offering their support in the form of free childcare. 43% tell us they are looking after their grandchildren in the school holidays – up from 37% last year – which could be saving families hundreds or even thousands across the school year.

“And while some grandparents may struggle with the physical and financial impact of helping out, most are more than happy to help if it means they get to spend time with their grandkids, with the vast majority willing to spend their own money in the process.”

Sources:

14,000,000 grandparents in the UK – Gov.uk(www.gov.uk opens in a new tab)

Average nanny wage – PayScale(www.payscale.com opens in a new tab)

Calculations

^[1] The average school year includes 5 inset days with a 6 week break in the summer, 2 weeks at Christmas and Easter and 1 week halfway through each of the three terms – in total this is around 14 weeks of holiday per year (13 holiday + 1 week of inset days).

Total providing holiday childcare	43%
Average Hours per week	18.06
Average salary for nanny	£11.68
Total equivalent cost for 6 week break	£1,265.64
Total equivalent cost for whole year (14 weeks)	£2,953.17
Grandparents in the UK	14,000,000
Grandparents providing holiday childcare (43%)	6,060,010
Total saving across UK - summer	£7,669,819,939.01
Total saving across UK - whole year	£17,896,246,524.35

About this research

An online survey of 2,033 grandparents with grandchildren aged under 18 and living in the UK. The research was commissioned by SunLife and conducted in July 2024 by Critical Research.