Families forced to rely on grandparents for childcare

GRANDPARENTS are increasingly being relied on to act as babysitters because of the cost of childcare and families having to pare back household budgets.

A study tracking the progress of 11,000 nine- month-old children found 38% of infants were in some form of childcare with grandparents the most frequent carers followed by creche or daycare centres.

Parents are paying on average €130 per week for childcare with almost one-in-five saying their choice of service was determined by price.