Looking After The Grandkids: The True Cost? | ITV Tonight

Approximately 14 million grandparents across the UK are saving the economy an estimated £7 billion a year on childcare. And when parents can no longer take care of their kids, grandparents are often the ones to step up, with at least half of kinship carers in the UK being grandparents. 

For some grandparents however, the responsibilities become more than weekly childcare. There are currently 200,000 kinship carers in the UK, with at least half of them being grandparents. 

We meet actor Jay Kontzle, from Emmerdale, who was himself raised by his grandparents as kinship carers, after his Mum died when he was just four years old:

“If I hadn’t gone to my nans and grandads, I would have been in care,” he tells us. “When I look back on my childhood, I'm quite proud of what I've been through and the stuff that I've gone through in my life… My grandparents did everything for me and anything I ever wanted to do, I did it.”- JAY KONTZLE, ACTOR

Sarah, a single mother to three children and a kinship carer to two young grandchildren, has been hailed as a “hero granny” across Plymouth and the entire UK. She battled Plymouth City Council over the financial aid promised to her when she took on kinship responsibilities. In 2022, Sarah won her judicial review.

SARAH: We went to court and we won the judicial review, which I understand is really quite hard to win. And we did!

When she took on kinship responsibilities as a single mum, her grandchildren were only very small - one was three, and the other was only fourteen months.

When we contact Plymouth City Council, they said:

"We clearly communicate how these allowances are calculated and the reason for any adjustments in payments to any special guardian. We have recalculated the allowances in this case and are ensuring all payments owing are made as soon as possible.

Following the judgement we are also in the process of reassessing the allowances for any special guardians not already in receipt of the full allowance and this will be backdated to the date of the judgement."

Of course, it is not always appropriate for grandparents to have access to their grandchildren in certain circumstances. But we hear from grandparents at the opposite end of the spectrum - those that have been estranged from their grandchildren due to family breakdown.

Useful Links

  • Need to talk to someone about issues raised in this programme? Call Samaritans on 116 123 

  • Contact Bristol Grandparents Support Group if you have been estranged from your grandchildren. Their helpline is on 07773 258270

  • Or Lorraine Bushell, who runs groups in London and Birmingham at hendongrandparents@gmail.com

  • The Charity Kinship supports kinship carers across the UK

  • Join the playgroup Nana Made Me in Birmingham on Facebook

  • Find out more about pension credits for childcare on the Government website

  • Read about MP Munira Wilson’s Kinship Care Bill

More Links