Grandparents can claim valuable state pension credits for helping parents with childcare by phone or video rather than in person during the coronavirus lockdown.
Many thousands of grandparents get credits worth around £260 a year during retirement in exchange for providing childcare. But normal family arrangements have been upended by restrictions to safeguard elderly people and halt the spread of Covid-19.
There was never a minimum hours rule anyway, and the Government has now confirmed that grandparents can carry on applying for or claiming credits if they are keeping children occupied in new ways during the 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 financial years.