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| Granny leave | ||||
| Should over 50s get leave to look after grandchildren? | ||||
 In our recent article on Grandparent babysitters, we quoted ABS figures that show that 937,000 children received care from a grandparent on a regular basis in 2011. But what if those grandparents also need to be working themselves?While the new Coalition government is getting the Productivity Commission questions together on the subject of child care, maybe this is something they should consider adding to the list of considerations. A leading think tank in the UK has proposed that women over the age of 50 should be entitled to "Granny Leave" to care for ageing parents or grandchildren. The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) says thousands of women over 50 are being forced to give up work because of the demands of looking after family members. According to the UK's Daily Mail, The think tank "suggests that 'Granny leave' could last for up to six months and would give grandparents the statutory right to return to jobs following their time off". In Australia the Age Pension age for women has just gone up to 65 (from July 2013) and is now the same age as it is for men. And with an ageing population, women of 50+ are likely to be both grandparents and also have a parent that is still alive and needs care. The poor Grandparents are being pulled in all directions. Everyone wants a piece of Granny! More and more people are now deferring retirement out of necessity and for those who have other family members in need, Granny Leave could be a real help. It helps both the parents of the grandchildren to keep working and also helps the grandparents keep working too. It retains more valuable women in the workforce. It values and supports experienced staff. Speaking to the Independent on Sunday, Dalia Ben-Galim, IPPR associate director, said: 'Women over 50 are increasingly having to juggle responsibilities: childcare to help their grown-up children, social care for their own elderly parents and work to pay the bills and make ends meet. The Granny Leave proposal is not a standalone leave however. It would be part of the parental leave scheme, allowing parents to transfer some of their parental leave to their children's grandparents. So while the new Coalition government is getting its child care ducks in a row, the subject of Grandparents might be a welcome “consideration” to the Productivity Commission Review. After all, if anyone deserves some paid leave (even if it’s to work in an unpaid role), it’s the grandparents. Resources: Thinking of using your parents to help with child care? Read our article to get the information you need to successfully use grandparents for child care. |
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