As the cost of living skyrockets, more Australian families are relying on grandparents instead of formal childcare. But how do the grandparents feel about their new roles as caregivers?
Yvonne Coombes, 78, lives in a granny flat at the back of her son’s family home.
She has been retired for many years, but now works full-time again, looking after her grandchildren, aged three and five, while their mother works.
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“It is much harder now taking care of grandchildren then when I looked after my other grandchildren at 50,” Yvonne says. “It is a big responsibility.”
But while Yvonne admits running around after two young girls is exhausting, she prefers it to the alternative — sending the girls to a childcare facility.
“I’d much rather take care of them then them going to day care though,” she says. “They love their home and their things.”
Yvonne’s daughter-in-law Alanna is convinced she couldn’t cope without grandparental care.
She says the cost of childcare is becoming prohibitive, and many families have no choice but to make alternative arrangements.
“They girls adore their nan. I don’t know how we’d manage if we didn’t have her,” Alanna says.
Related: Are we raising a generation of brats?
The Coombes family are by no means unique. In 2011, more Australian children (26 percent) were being cared for by their grandparents than childcare providers (24 percent).
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