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GRANDPARENTS in Spain spend an average of six hours a day looking after their children's children, according to the national geriatrician society (SEGG).

With the financial crisis meaning parents cannot afford either for one or both of them to work part-time or look after the children round the clock instead of having a job, and childcare being prohibitively expensive, grandparents are playing a major role in the youngsters' upbringing – to the point where it is practically full-time, unpaid employment.

Traditional working hours and school hours do not coincide and flexible job timetables are very rare, meaning mums and dads who are employed full-time cannot be there for school runs, mealtimes or extra-curricular activities, or even in some cases, for getting kids ready for school in the morning and putting them to bed at night.

The SEGG says grandparents are an asset to children's upbringing, since their tolerance and life experience means they transmit traditions, values and teaching which is crucial to them.

Also, spending time with grandchildren helps combat loneliness and isolation, keeps them physically fit, improves their cognitive functions and allows them to 'feel useful' and fulfilled, the SEGG explains.

But the society warns that time spent with grandchildren should be 'enjoyable, relaxing and of quality' – yet some grandmothers and grandfathers find they are working the equivalent of a day in the office and suffer stress, anxiety, depression and physical and mental fatigue as a result. 

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com