Turkey Passes a Law the World’s Grannies Have Been Waiting For

As all families with children and pension-age working grandparents know, it’s very difficult to find someone to mind the kiddies even for a few hours. If parents want to be able to go out and spend some quality time together, they first need to hire a nanny. And that’s not an easy or inexpensive task.

Today Bright Side invites you to take a look at a brilliant and novel solution to this problem. Not long ago, Turkish legislators passed a law that obliges the state to pay a salary to grandmothers who babysit their grandchildren on weekdays.

Pure Genius

Minding children is the biggest problem for working mothers in Turkey. But the Turkish government has found a simple solution: to pay grandparents for staying home with their grandchildren. In February 2017, Turkey launches a pilot program that will guarantee grandparents a state-paid salary, provided they agree to babysit throughout the working week.

To those whose pensions range from 1,000 to 1,800 Turkish liras ($250-$450), the program offers an opportunity to earn additional income simply by spending time with grandchildren.

The goal of the program is to increase the employment of women.

The project is planned to debut in two provinces: Bursa and Izmir. The initial phase will cover approximately 1,000 families. After six months of implementation, depending on the analysis results, it might be expanded to other provinces of Turkey.

The program will give women with children the opportunity to work full-time and, therefore, earn more. In an interview with CNN Turk, the Turkish Minister of Labour and Social Security said that taking care of grandchildren will earn grandmothers about 400 liras (€99 or $105) per month.

SOURCE: BRIGHTSIDE