Families across Teeside relying on Grandparents for childcare support
It's as a survey found half live fewer than five miles from their relatives
More than half (57%) of parents with children aged under 13 rely on childcare support from at least one grandparent, a survey has found.
This rises to more than seven in 10 (72%) of those living within 30 minutes of their child's nearest grandparent, according to the research for property website Zoopla.
The survey, among 2,000 parents with children under the age of 13, found half (50%) live fewer than five miles from their child's nearest grandparent and seven in 10 (68%) live within a 30-minute journey.
More than half (52%) of parents who receive childcare support from grandparents agreed they feel "trapped" regarding where they live.
But more than a third (36%) of parents who have grandparent support said they could not afford to be without it.
More than two fifths (44%) of parents feeling trapped said they would like to move to a bigger home, but house prices are not affordable in their area.
Some said that they would like to move to a different area but cannot, and some also said they would like to buy a home but needed to rent to be near to grandparents.
Nearly two fifths (19%) of parents said that, since having children, they had moved closer to grandparents, while 11% are currently planning to move.
Parents questioned said that, on average, about seven miles away was the ideal distance to live from a grandparent.
Nicola Geddes lives in Durham with her three children who are 6, 3 and 10 months old and says support from her in laws is vital:
"We are lucky in that fact that my Mother and Father in law look after our two boys who go to nursery on a Friday so they only have to attend nursery Monday to Thursday because they want to have that extra time with them."
"They also help on a Monday night, they pick my daughter up from school and take her to Rainbows for me, so I don't have to take the two boys out of the house, that's because mainly they live quite close by. My parents live in Yorkshire, I don't rely on them as much but they offer to come up on a weekend when my husband is away."
Dan Walton has three children aged 11, 9 and 6 - he's also the Headteacher at Langley Park primary school: "We're very lucky to have family members who help and also kind of nursery provision and our children are all now in school which does make things a lot, lot easier. But I do know for children who are much longer, finding nurseries, finding childminders, some are very, very sort after."
Daniel Copley, consumer expert at Zoopla, suggested that parents should have "open and honest conversations with grandparents about the support they are prepared to offer, and how far they would be willing to travel".
He added that some grandparents may be amenable to moving, adding: "Many may be looking to move to a smaller home, or free up some of the equity in their home to fund their retirement, and moving to a more affordable location may work for them as well."