Italy to Pay Grandparents a €1,200 ‘Nanny Bonus’ for Childminding Services amid Pandemic

The Italian Government has announced that it will pay grandparents a €1,200 ‘nanny bonus’ for childminding their grandkids during the pandemic.

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.