Speaking at the General Social Care Council's annual conference last week, Naomi Eisenstadt, director of the Social Exclusion Task Force, said grandparents who become kinship carers are often women in their 40s. "They have to think about the lifetime impact of giving up everything to look after their grandchildren," she said.
She added they are often sacrificing their pensions, which will have an impact when they are older: "They need to think about whether it will impact on their life because we are creating poverty in elderly life."
Jean Stogdon, chair of Grandparents Plus, said many grandparents do not want to raise a child again, but will take on their grandchildren in a kinship care arrangement to stop them from going into care. "Some grandparents are working but if they get good support from local authorities then perhaps they wouldn't have to give up their jobs," she said.
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