Damages to Homes by Grand-children

Grandparents looking after their grand-children on part-time basis can often be a win-win for all involved. For the parents, it is a day-care option which requires little or no cost. For the grandparents, it’s a chance spend time with the children.

So, it may come to no surprise to grandparents that there is a hidden cost of minding grandchildren in your own home.

How much damage can a child make?

More common is the physical damage. David Wilson Homes in the UK recently surveyed 1001 grandparent households – who look after children aged between one and nine. It showed the average annual cost of damage was a eye-opening $160 per room per grandchild.

What types of damage?

The survey found that most common form of damage was spilt food and drink on carpets and soft furnishings (65.49%), followed by drawing and painting on walls (14.64%) and broken ornaments (6.63%).

Where is the damage?

In terms of where the damage takes place, the living room suffers the most with 30.20% of reported incidents, followed by the garden with 16.84% and the kitchen with 11.99%.

While cases of damages caused in garages were rare (1.37 per cent), this was the location for the highest average cost of damages, coming in at a staggering $326.

The worst age groups?

The worse damage and expense was by children aged four to six years of age.