Grandparents as Holiday Nannies: A Rising Trend

The perceived value of grannies and granddads in the UK is increasing, especially during the holidays. According to a report in Easier, one fifth of the grandparents in the UK will join summer family trips. That’s about 2.5 million grandparents across the country.

This trend is a continuation of what the report calls the “three-generational holidaying trend,” which was found in the research conducted by over 50s insurer RIAS. Most of these grandparents travel with their children with the main purpose of helping with the grandchildren.

The effect is that families will holiday in larger groups, while the quality of the time they spend together will be higher. In addition to all this, grandparents who become holiday “nannies” get to know their young grandchildren, while parents enjoy a break during their holiday time.

The Managing Director at RIAS, Jane Connor, said: "Our ‘Summer Holiday Helpers' study shows that the three generational holiday is here to stay and is firmly on the family holidaying agenda…As parents feel more pressure to put longer hours in at work and cut costs at home, grandparents are increasingly stepping in when childcare is needed - they are truly family saviours.”

Some parents work so hard that they can’t afford to break away with their families. Yet, they don’t want their children to miss out. In this case, grandparents also step in. They take their grandchildren on holiday without the parents.

According to the RIAS research, this trend has grown to include 26 per cent of grandparents, or 3.2 million of them. This is also a vital time of bonding for the older and younger generations in families.

A third holiday trend the research found was that 54 per cent of UK grandparents provide childcare for their grandchildren in their own home in cases where families do not take holiday trips. Grandchildren then perceive their place at “grandmas” as a home away from home. Many of these grandparents provide care for at least half of the school holiday period.

One of the main reasons for this growing trend has been the economy. Parents have needed to return to work as a result of the economy. For the same reason, they have been unable to afford rising nursery and formal childcare fees. In addition, childcare has become all the more necessary because parents started working even longer hours to make ends meet.

In a way, the economy therefore contributed to a positive trend: the older and younger generation will build a relationship of mutual respect.

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