Grandparents are financing almost one in ten UK family holidays according to an insurance company study.
So-called “grancations”, where grandparents fund family holidays, represent almost one tenth of the UK’s annual spending on holidays – with grandparents likely to spend more than £2 billion on family breaks this year
The study by Gnu Insurance involved a survey of 1,000 UK adults over 50. It found 43% had paid for their children and grandchildren to go on a holiday since becoming grandparents.
Almost one quarter (23%) paid for a family holiday every year, while 9% always pay, 9% provide cash twice a year and 56% fund holidays every two years.
Almost one in five grandparents (19%) had been away with just their grandchildren in the last year, while 18% said they take the youngsters away to give the parents a rest.
The study found only 28% of those surveyed would holiday in the UK this year compared with 32% last year, and 21% said they would take breaks beyond Europe in 2011.
Grandparents in Yorkshire and Humberside appeared the most generous, with 55% paying for family holidays.
Gnu Insurance general manager Paul Thilo said: “The over-50s have more spending power than ever before when it comes to holidays.”