UK’s parental leave to be extended to grandparents

The UK’s chief finance minister George Osborne has announced plans to allow grandparents to share their children’s paid parental leave.

Under existing UK legislation that came into force in April this year, new mothers and fathers are allowed to take up to 52 weeks’ statutory paid parental leave, shared between them. Under the new proposals, this arrangement would be extended to grandparents who work.

Osborne announced the plans at the annual conference of the governing Conservative party in Manchester, commenting that: “Research shows two million grandparents have either given up a job, reduced their hours or taken time off work to look after their grandchildren. Allowing them instead to share leave with their children will keep thousands more in the workplace, which is good for our economy.”

The policy was previously advocated by the opposition Labour party, ahead of this year’s general election.

Daniela Del Boca has written for IZA World of Labor about childcare choices and child development. In her article, Del Boca discusses evidence that shows grandparents’ care has a positive effect on some measures of children’s cognitive development (such as vocabulary), but can also prepare children less well for school than formal childcare. These effects are exacerbated by socio-economic background.

Del Boca argues that: “generous parental leave policies as well as policies that promote affordable and high-quality formal childcare are likely to have a positive impact on children’s abilities and outcomes in the near and long term.”

Read more on this story at BBC News.

Related articles:
Childcare choices and child development by Daniela Del Boca
Childcare subsidy policy: What it can and cannot accomplish by Erdal Tekin