Granny Leave: Acknowledging The Importance Of Grandparents Providing Childcare

It’s time for the government to acknowledge the importance of grandparents providing childcare to their grandchildren.

The ‘Granny Leave’ Act

In 2018, a new act came into effect in the UK. It’s been dubbed the ‘Granny Leave’ act, because it makes it easier for grandparents to take time off work to help care for their grandchildren. It’s another piece in the new puzzle of changing economic realities, an aging workforce that has to keep working later in life, and an unprecedented number of families where both parents (or single parents) are working. 

According to the Granny Leave act, working parents will be able to transfer their existing parental leave allowance (up to 52 weeks after birth in the UK, and then up to 18 weeks - maximum four weeks per year per child - until the child is 18) and accompanying statutory payments to working grandparents who help fill in the child care cracks. It is an expression of two truths that are not universally acknowledged: most grandparents are not retired with time to spare; and grandparents providing childcare for their grandchildren play a vital role in keeping a family unit - and the economy - going.

Grandparental childcare is critical

Around the world, grandparents step in to care for their grandchildren so that parents can return to work. With the rise of single parent families and the pressing need for both parents to work, the pressure to find affordable childcare to fill in the after-school and school-vacation gaps is only going to rise. Add to that the fact that baby boomer grandparents are a lot more likely to be working than their own grandparents were at the same age, and it’s clear that something has to be done.

‘Granny Leave’ around the world

While America has a lot to be proud of, supporting working parents is not one them.

In Australia, grandparents caring for grandchildren can take advantage of tax benefits and child care benefits

In the UK, existing legislation protects grandparents’ state pension rights by giving national state pension credits to grandparents who take time off from work to look after grandchildren

Across the border in Canada, parents of children under 6 receive a $100 monthly benefit which can be used to pay for any form of child care, including grandparent child care

In Germany, grandparents are legally entitled to take up to 10 days per year of paid leave to care for a sick grandchild, or up to six months unpaid leave in an emergency, without jeopardizing their jobs.

The persecution of grandparents who provide childcare

In contrast, the AARP recently ran a shocking news story about grandparents in the USA who have been fired from their jobs for stepping in to care for their grandchildren in an emergency. In each reported case, the courts upheld the employer’s decision to terminate their employment.

At the very least, grandparents who provide emergency childcare deserve to not fear that their jobs will be taken away from them while they do so.

Working parents have long known how vital it is to have grandparents helping out with childcare, but society as a whole has been slow to reach the same conclusion. As always, it’s the lowest-income families that suffer the most. With a high percentage of single-parent families, they are desperately dependent on their own parents to fill in the childcare cracks, but their parents are afraid of losing their own jobs if they agree to help.

A recent, highly-acclaimed TED talk by Jessica Shortall waved the banner for better parental leave for American parents. Shortall makes many good points, but one thing she says really stands out

“We have to stop framing this as a mother’s issue, or even a women’s issue. This is an American issue.”

Grandparents’ childcare contribution is at least as vital to a vibrant, thriving country as their income tax contribution. The government needs to send a message that it values not just baby boomers’ tax dollars, but also our priceless wisdom and energy. It’s not just a woman’s issue, or an aging issue. It’s an American issue.

The role that grandparents play has been undervalued by society for a long time, with each generation thinking that the previous one has nothing worth teaching. ‘Granny leave’ would be a small step to acknowledging not just that children need grandparents, but that America needs grandparents.

By Faigie Horowitz, MS

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A veteran nonprofit leader, Faigie Horowitz, MS is a columnist, motivational speaker and active community rebbetzin in Lawrence, NY.