What would we do without them?

The total cost of child care being saved by diligent loving grandparents (GP) to the British economy and exchequer is a staggering £17 billion per year. Put that is you pipe boy George! Research by Rias the over 50's insurance provider found that 67% of grandparents have taken on a caring role as their children work full time. This is a major shift in the system of caring in difficult economic times. Some 1,002 GP's spent on average 9.1 hours per week, this is up some 11 percent on last year. The saving to parents is on average about £1,902 to the family budget. Many have dipped into their savings and some have even gone into overdraft to help their children out. It demonstrates beyond peradventure that the GP is an essential part of the family infrastructure and is now indispensable to its ability to function in this ever increasing and demanding world of work. Lets just hope they don't get too exhausted in the process and can hang on for another 10 to 15 years or so.