Thousands of grandparents missing out on 'nanny tax credit' that boosts state pension

They're not being financially supported. They're being credited for the years as child carers when their pension is calculated. This has happened for stay-at-home parents for years.

I dont quite understand why grandparents should be financially supported for looking after their grandchildren!! I looked after my grandchildren for years as their parents both worked, out of love not financial gain.

GrannyA11i You could be eligible, but it depends whether you work for the rest of the week and who looks after the child on the other days.

If you work four days a week, you already pay NICs, so will be building up a qualifying year for your pension anyway.

If the child's parent looks after the child, he/she will already receive Home Responsibilities Protection, in which case it can't be given to two people.

I had never heard of it either. To me it smacks of "we will put it out there so people can't complain but we won't tell anyone so they won't apply for it. Plus we will make it so confusing and complicated everyone will give up anyway." When will the government recognise PROPERLY how much grandparents save the economy?

I had never heard of it and I look after my granddaughter one day a week so will look into whether I am eligible or not. I don't think it's been well advertised by the government though!

I would imagine it depends whether your part-time work provides enough income for NICs to be paid. It sounds very much like Home Responsibilities Protection, which credits stay-at-home parents with qualifying years. That's why the parent of the child has to be working - two people can't claim the credits, so in a way this is a transfer to the person doing the caring. It's worth over £4 a week on the state pension for each year you're eligible, so it is worth claiming.

It doesn't sound like an awful lot of incentive to be honest. What if you cut back your hours to work part time in order to help out? Do you have to stop work completely? What if you decide to go back to work after a few years helping out? Do the credits not count then? I suspect there's been such a low uptake because it's quite a narrow qualifying field? Did anyone else know about this? I've got a few friends in mind who might be interested.