Grandparents in south west are taking on more roles, finds study by Thatcham developer

Three in ten grandparents in the south west now help with their grandchildren’s school run, a study has found.

Thatcham developer McCarthy Stone has found that almost half of the retirees living in the south west feel there is now more pressure on parents to make both family life and work a success.

Three in ten of these retirees vow to help their family members with this struggle with 35 per cent dropping the kids off to school and a further 42 per cent babysitting overnight more than three times a month.

The study also found that more than half of grandparents – 53 per cent – are on hand to entertain their grandchildren, playing games with them five times a month. Around 37 per cent will undertake a weekly trip to the playground.

Two in five (26 per cent) will do the laundry, 29 per cent will walk the family pet and 26 per cent will do the bath and bedtime routine.

Divisional marketing manager at McCarthy Stone, Nicki Beswarick said: “With parents facing increasing financial pressures they are leaning on grandparents more than ever, but they don’t always live close enough to be able to help their families as much as they’d like.”

He said McCarthy Stone’s many developments mean people can be closer to their loved ones while remaining as independent as they have always been.

He added: “By living somewhere more suited to their needs and because of the help our teams provide – which is everything from building maintenance, to gardening, to additional care and support if needed – our homeowners have more time to spend on the things they enjoy.

“This means they can balance the enjoyment of a relaxing retirement with providing practical help to their children in these uncertain times.”