By Pepi Sappal • Published: 30 Jun 2020 • 21:58
Italian Government pays grandparents to babysit grandkids amid pandemic, while parents go to work. CREDIT: Juan Pablo Serrano Arenas, Pexels
THE ‘nanny bonus’ approved by the Italian Government is for direct family members who have to care for grandchildren under 12 years of age, provided they do not live with them. With many parents still going work amid the pandemic, finding childcare has been not easy. In fact, childcare during the summer will become even more difficult, with summer camps and leisure activities still practically non-existent, or severely reduced due to social distancing. So leaving children with grandparents or a family member will continue to be the most common options. The Italian Government has therefore decided to pay grandparents, or uncles and aunts, to babysit grandchildren or nieces/nephews for providing a much-needed service while the infection continues to impact families and working parents.
According to data from the Italian Statistical Institute (Istat), when two parents from the same household go to work, 60.4% of them rely on the grandparents for childcare – mainly the grandmothers. The percentage rises to 61.3% when the child is between 3 and 5 years old. The Social Security services in Italy (Inps) has confirmed that uncles/aunts, as well as grandparents, can benefit from this aid of a maximum of €1,200 (€960 after taxes) until July 31. It can also be backdated to March 5, when all Italian schools closed due to lockdowns, if grandparents or family members had been involved with childcare, and provided they do not live in the same household as the children, Inps added.
Share this story
Subscribe to our Euro Weekly News alerts to get the latest stories into your inbox!
By signing up, you will create a Euro Weekly News account if you don't already have one. Review our Privacy Policy for more information about our privacy practices.
Share your story with us by emailing newsdesk@euroweeklynews.com, by calling +34 951 38 61 61 or by messaging our Facebook page www.facebook.com/EuroWeeklyNews
By signing up, you will create a Euro Weekly News account if you don’t already have one. Review our Privacy Policy for more information about our privacy practices.
Download our media pack in either English or Spanish.