Interesting numbers on grandparent-provided child care

I hesitate to even blog this because I think it's so wrong-headed, but the numbers are interesting - the Australian Bureau of Statistics reports that 27 per cent of parents use grandparents as their main source of child care.

The title of the article is “Gran-sploitation”: Are grandparents being used for free childcare? and the author really seems to be reacting to someone else's contention that grandparents are being taken advantage of and that they secretly resent it. She concludes, "I think the fact families have become so fragmented that it is seen as extraordinary by people such as Robin Barker for grandparents to do some of the heavy lifting is a real loss for the parents of my generation, and for our kids.

Despite what experts such as Robin Barker say, I reckon most grandparent child minders are not resentful, and that they understand the richness they are offering to the kids – and the preciousness of the experience they are having in return."

Discuss amongst yourselves.