Retirees 'save their families £1,313 per year in childcare costs'

The average retiree spends around 256 hours each year looking after grandchildren and other family members, saving their relatives £1,313 per year, research has found.

Furthermore, according to the MGM Advantage study, the typical retired person spends two hours a week looking after grandchildren, 43 minutes caring for their parents and two hours taking care of other family members.

Meanwhile, there are some 224,584 retired Brits who spend more than 20 hours a week looking after their grandchildren, while a further 533,400 spend between 11 and 20 hours doing this.

There are regional differences, with Scottish retirees putting in the most hours caring for family members, clocking up an average of 302 hours and seven minutes every year, which has a financial value of £1,504.

People in the east and the south-east of England spent the least time caring for family members each year, racking up a total of 201 hours and 14 minutes and 209 hours and 12 minutes respectively.

Aston Goodey, sales and marketing director at the pensions firm, explained that this is due to the financially challenging times.

"These families are relying on grandparents to provide childcare support which is often unpaid, yet provides an essential service for families that is needed to enable them to function properly," he said.

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