Grandparents need time off if they are carers, says new study

Women over 50 who have to split their time between work and caring for grandchildren and their own parents should be allowed periods of official "parental leave" to make sure they can keep their jobs, a major new report backed by Labour says.

The study, entitled Sandwich Generation and produced by the IPPR think-tank, recommends that in specific cases parents should be allowed to transfer parental leave to their children's grandparents, giving grandmothers or grandfathers the legal right to return to work after periods of family caring duties, as well as continued pension rights.

The idea of allowing parental leave to be switched not just between mothers and fathers but between generations of the same family is being actively examined at the top of the Labour party, which asked IPPR to draw up the report for the party's Commission on Older Women.

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