WIREDGOV

A new guide for grandparents, ‘Family Life’, is launched today by charity Grandparents Plus with advice and guidance on how grandparents can balance work and care, support teenagers and help families through difficult times. The new handbook is aimed at the millions of grandparents who are providing emotional, practical and financial support to families across the country.

There are over 14 million grandparents in the UK. With 1 in 3 families depending on them for childcare and more than 300,000 children being raised by their grandparents, Family Life: a grandparents’ guide to supporting families through difficult times answers many of the questions and tackles some of the key dilemmas facing grandparents, including: 

• A new baby: ‘I want to help out but don’t want them to think I’m interfering’, ‘They haven’t got the baby into a routine- should I say something?’
• Work, life and caring: ‘They assume I will look after the baby when they go back to work’, ‘I don’t expect to be paid, but I do feel taken for granted.’
• When money is tight: ‘I think they are getting into debt – should I offer to help out?’ , ‘My son has lost his job, how can I help?’
• When parents part: ‘My son isn’t seeing the children as often as he used to. I worry he will lose touch completely and so will I.’ ‘My daughter-in-law is stopping me seeing the grandchildren. Should I challenge this?’
• The teenage years: ‘My teenage granddaughter confides in me rather than her mother. Should I tell her mum what is going on? , ‘My granddaughter is asking me questions about sex. Should I answer them?’
• Children with a disability of special needs: ‘I am the only person who they trust to care for my disabled grandson when they go to work. I feel I have no alternative but to help them but I’ am finding it all a bit too much.’
• Times of crises: ‘I recently lost my husband and it’s been a difficult time for all of us. My son and his children have been very upset so I don’t like to talk about it but I’m finding it hard because I need to talk about him.’

The guide, funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families, is part of the Kids in the Middle campaign – a coalition of charities backed by the nation’s agony aunts – which aims to promote better support children when family conflict arises. 

Denise Robertson, agony aunt on ITV’s This Morning, whose ‘top ten tips’ for grandparents are featured in the guide, said:

This guide is designed to offer support and encouragement to grandparents – many of whom play an absolutely key role in their grandchildren’s lives. As the pace and pressure of daily life increases, the contribution grandparents can made has never been more necessary and it’s important their role is recognised.

Sam Smethers, Chief Executive of Grandparents Plus, said:

We’ve drawn on the experiences and views of a wide range of grandparents and consulted with experts to put together the best advice possible for grandparents. It is time to take their role seriously and give them the help they need as they do what they can to support their families.

We know that during the recession parents have been turning to grandparents for extra help with childcare, financial support and practical advice. There has never been a more important time to support family life.

The guide will be launched by Ed Balls and Denise Robertson at London Early Years Foundation’s Marsham Street Community Nursery, which runs special sessions for grandparents and their grandchildren. It will be distributed to 3500 children’s centres across the country and is available free to all grandparents.

Children's Secretary Ed Balls said:

I know that grandparents play an invaluable role in supporting family life and it's right that they have access to information and advice designed for them. That's why we have funded this new guide, which includes ten top tips from agony aunt Denise Robertson, to give grandparents the information and advice they need to help support their families.

We are now giving grandparents the recognition they deserve. A new website, BeGrand.net, means they can share their experiences with fellow grandparents and access handy advice on issues that might affect them. We’re also working to make sure that local services, like children's centres, are open to grandparents. And from April 2011, grandparents caring for children under 12 will be able to receive National Insurance contributions to recognise the care they provide to enable parents to work.

Grandparents can be a valuable source of support for children and young people, particularly if their parents separate. This Government has removed a legal hurdle for grandparents in the courts, making it easier for them to apply for contact with their grandchildren to preserve this special relationship.

And we’re also working hard for those grandparents who are raising their grandchildren. Last week the Budget announced that from April 2011 those who are caring for a relative’s child will no longer have their discretionary payments from local authorities taken into account when being assessed for Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit. This will make the children and carers in these often vulnerable families better off.

June O'Sullivan, Chief Executive of London Early Years Foundation (LEYF) said:

Our long-term ambition at LEYF of building a better future for London's children is always strengthened through true and successful community cohesion; and the role played by grandparents as part of a close-knit extended family is crucial in this respect.

Caring for over 1100 children and their families each year, we're eager to encourage the 'connected' engagement of both parents and their parents wherever possible.  This may be a simple matter of grandparents bringing or collecting their grandchildren to and from nursery, getting more involved in regular drop-in sessions or workshops; it may equally be a case of their ongoing support of larger, community-based intergenerational projects we initiate or promote.

Further information

The guide, ‘Family Life’, will be launched at London Early Years Foundation’s Marsham Street Community Nursery, 121 Marsham Street on Thursday 1 April at 3pm. 

Children’s Secretary Ed Balls and This Morning agony aunt Denise Robertson will be at the launch.

For more information, please contact DCSF newsdesk on 020 7925 6789.

Grandparents Plus

Kids in the Middle

Family Life was produced by Grandparents Plus in association with: Kids in the Middle, One Plus One, The Grandparents’ Association, Parentline Plus and Relate.

Grandparents: key facts are available for download from this page.