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The Press Christchurch 10/9/09Some grandparents are going to bed hungry or visiting food banks to feed abused and neglected grandchildren in their care, a new study shows. Former Massey University social work lecturer and researcher Jill Worrall has studied how couples who have custody of their grandchildren are coping. Her research found almost 50 per cent of the 200 families surveyed were earning less than $29,000 a year and were struggling to pay their food and electricity bills. Some told of giving up much of their food for their growing grandchildren, not going to the doctor because they could not afford it and being physically abused by their young charges. The report recommends giving grandparents with permanent custody access to free counselling and medical care for their often deeply disturbed charges, which would put them on more of an equal footing with the entitlements of Child, Youth and Family foster parents. Worrall, a trustee of the Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Trust NZ, which commissioned the research, also recommends that the Government pay for more school-related costs, respite care and specialist training for elderly people earning under $30,000 and looking after their grandchildren. The research shows there has been some improvement in the plight of couples raising their grandchildren, with fewer in this group earning under $20,000 than when Worrall surveyed it in 2005. In 2005, 41 per cent of grandparent caregivers surveyed were earning less than $20,000, but this dropped to 22 per cent in the new report. Minister for Social Development Paula Bennett said research such as Worrall's provided valuable insight into how much care went into the raising of children by their extended family. Bennett said to help such caregivers the Government had raised the unsupported-child benefit to bring it into line with those receiving the foster care allowance. Children being cared for by family members would also be eligible for 500 places in respite camps, she said. |