Derbyshire Grandmother sells home of 40-years amid cost-of-living crisis
Jo Stanley, from Ilkeston, has now moved in with her daughter and grandchildren to stay afloat
A grandmother from Ilkeston has sold her home of 40-years to move in with her daughter, and grandchildren to help the family through the cost-of-living crisis.
Jo Stanley has moved down the road from her life-long home - as childcare costs, rising energy, and grocery bills pushed them into desperation.
Jo works part time at a logistics firm so she can look after her grandchildren Frank, who is at nursery and 18-month-old Felicity, saving the family hundreds of pounds.
Jo's daughter, and Frank and Felicity's mum, Fiona is a manager at the same logistics firm and said: "I am in a great career. I have got a fantastic job, but it was not enough because the childcare ultimately was all of my wages and then it's kind of like who's paying my mortgage, who's paying the energy, who's paying the food?
"So me and my mum were talking and she also wasn't really in a situation where she had any true life, she was only left over with a small amount of money each month as well, and this was from working full time and trying to run a household as a single person.
"So we got our heads together. And that's when we come with the idea of her basically being my child minder and then obviously her selling her home coming to live with me and then I'll basically be like the breadwinner."
The Spring Budget is set to be announced today, where the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will update MPs on the state of the economy and the government's taxation and spending plans.
Fiona hopes the costs of childcare is addressed: "I think there needs to be more flexibility in terms of the free hours that you can receive. Obviously when your child turns three, you do get 30 hours free childcare a week, which is obviously a massive help.
"But what do we do until we get to that age? Most parents are now having to cut their maternity leave short. They're potentially only having a minimum of six months off with their brand new baby, but they're still gonna make ends meet until they are turning 3."
Fiona adds: "I actually fear for the future of my children in terms of where are they gonna be, and how are they gonna afford to live? And there's more and more children now staying at home with the parents because they can't even get on the property ladder. Never mind them thinking about having their own family and trying to support it. So something really needs to change."