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 | | Wednesday, 20 March, 2002, 12:12 GMT Scheme pays grandparents to babysit  Childcare costs keep lone parents out of work A pilot scheme to pay grandparents for looking after their grandchildren is being studied by ministers. The project has been operated successfully by Nottinghamshire County Council for a number of years. And now the Department for Work and Pensions has told BBC News Online it is "evaluating" the scheme to see if it may be an option for helping more single parents back to work. A spokeswoman said the New Deal for lone parents showed the cost of childcare was one of the biggest obstacles to taking up work. The initiative in Nottinghamshire was one of a number being considered as possible solutions to the problem, she explained.
Under it, single parents wanting to move off benefits and into employment can claim a "transitional short-term" sum to pay their parents to mind their children while they settle into work. The working families tax credit scheme gives cash help towards childcare to parents on low incomes. But at the moment informal arrangements are not covered - the carer has to be a registered childminder. Childcare costs in Britain are among the highest in Europe. Daycare Trust, which promotes quality, affordable childcare for all, has found that the average cost of a nursery place for a child under two years of age in Britain stands at �6,200 - a rise of nearly 10% since last year. The number of nursery places have steadily risen since Labour came to power in 1997 - but there has also been a sharp decrease in the number of childminders. | |
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