Young children cared for by their grandparents frequently develop better than those looked after in nurseries, a study has found. 

Children’s vocabulary and emotional security can be markedly improved by more time spent in a loving family environment, it found.

And the study concluded that while more formal environments such as a nurseries may prepare children better for school, even this advantage was not especially significant in the long term, the Daily Telegraph reports.

The findings come in a review of research papers into child development carried out for the think tank the Institute for Fiscal Studies and the Nuffield Foundation.

The researchers, led by social scientist Caroline Bryson, said that half of children whose parents both work are looked after at least part of the time by relatives, usually grandparents.

When they go to primary school the proportion increases to 60 per cent as grandparents step in to provide care after school ends and before parents get home from work. 

While the cost of childcare was a factor in parents asking their own parents to look after their children, it was not the only factor, the review found.

One study the researchers reviewed asked parents to rank what motivated them to chose grandparents with “trust” coming top followed by “love”.

Another set of data collected from children born in the year 2000 appears to show that those looked after by their grandparents “experience slightly higher vocabulary development in the early years”.

The report adds: “There is also evidence of a positive association between socio-emotional development and being looked after by grandparents among more educated families.

“This was still apparent when the children reached age five.”

But the opposite appeared to be the case among children from disadvantaged backgrounds who benefited overall from formal childcare.

While being in formal childcare did appear to make children initially more “school ready”, the researchers added: “We should note that being cared for by grandparents did not significantly put children at a disadvantage in school readiness compared to children not in formal childcare, but rather that it provided no advantage, while formal childcare did.”

Sue Palmer, author of the book, Toxic Childhood, said: “The single biggest thing a grandparent can bring is love and a general interest in that particular child – so that you are prepared to put yourself out for them on a personal level.

“The child has got a loving adult who is concerned about their personal wellbeing and following their interests.

“Grandparents are obviously going to be more concerned about that than someone who is being paid.”

But she said that similar benefits could also be gained from childminders, as opposed to large nurseries.

“You get a variety and a range of abilities but it is the element of personal care which is the most important thing up to the age of three – once they are beyond three company of other children comes into its own,” she said.

The study noted that while the number of children being looked after some of the time by their grandparents has increased overall in the last 10 years, the amount of time they spend with them has actually fallen.

This is put down to the availability of free preschool care for children over three but which only covers a limited number of hours.