‘Granny leave’ to help with childcare

Working grandparents would be entitled to two weeks of ‘granny leave’ after the birth of a grandchild, and entitled to tax credits, if the charity Grandparents Plus have their way. It is calling for the government to give grandparents an entitlement of two weeks’ leave, to be taken at any point in the child’s first year, receive credits towards their national insurance contributions, and to extend the childcare tax credit to grandparents who provide childcare to help parents return to work. A spokesperson for Grandparents Plus said that 14 million grandparents provide £3.9 billion in childcare yearly.