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Looking after grandchildren
An increasing number of grandparents are having to offer a loving home to their grandchildren when divorce, death and desertion leave them without mothers and fathers
Dave Pitcher, a social worker in Plymouth, has also set up a support group for grandparents. He has conducted a survey of more than 30 grandparents who look after their grandchildren.
He says grandparents seldom get appropriate help from local authorities, and many feel isolated and concerned about their own health and what that might mean for the security of their young charges.
Some grandparents have very limited funds, perhaps only a pension and no help with the extra cost of raising a child. It can lead to profound injustice.
In one case, a grandparent told the charity, the Family Rights Group: “Social services offered me £26 a week to care for my grandchild. I couldn’t afford it, so they placed her with foster carers and paid them £150 a week.”
In spite of the difficulties, however, Dave Pitcher reports that what comes across most strongly is the pleasure grandparents derive from seeing their grandchildren flourish.
“People simply wanted to say, ‘We love her. Whatever price we’ve had to pay has been worth it. She has brought joy to our lives,’” he says.
This article was created: 13 July 2006.
This article was last edited: 11 December 2006.
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