Working parents and working grandparents needed for Australian research project on grandparent childcare

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Researchers want to hear about your experiences for a new large Australian research project on grandparent childcare.



Grandparents are the most popular source of childcare in Australia – more than one quarter of grandparents care for their grandkids aged 13 and under, at least once a week. Yet government decision makers rarely take this caring into account when making policies for both families and older Australians.

Research suggests that grandparent childcare supports parents – especially mothers – to participate in paid work. We also know that providing regular childcare can affect the way grandparents organise their work. But we don’t know enough about how parents and grandparents negotiate and organise childcare, or how families balance grandparent childcare with other forms of childcare.

A recent Australian study found some areas in Australia have high access to places in formal childcare (an ‘oasis’, with enough spaces for 3 days childcare for every child ), while others have poor access (a ‘desert’, with 3 children vying for every space). Some states (Qld and the ACT) have better childcare access than others, and cities tend to have better access than regional and remote areas.

This Australian-first research project is recruiting nationally in both childcare deserts and childcare oasis, including urban, regional and remote areas to shed new light on how families manage childcare.



We would like to talk to a parent AND a grandparent in a family where the grandparent is providing regular childcare (e.g. weekly, or through other regular arrangements such as school holidays). Participation involves an interview of up to 1 hour with one of our research team. The interview can be online, in person, or by phone. Participants will receive a gift voucher as a thank you.

Researchers from the University of Sydney, the University of NSW, the University of Melbourne and the University of Helsinki (Finland) are conducting this research (HREC 2022/074).

How to get in contact
If you’re interested in finding out more or participating in the study, contact either:

Associate Professor Myra Hamilton, University of Sydney
[email protected]

OR
Alison Williams, University of Sydney
[email protected]

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