I think it would be a terrible idea to bring in payments to grandparents who look after their grandchildren (A grand idea?, The Press, March 26).

This is probably the last remaining activity that can truly be called a “labour of love” and should remain just that.

I cannot believe that grandparents who do not look after their grandchildren, for whatever reason, are more likely to volunteer for this job simply for the financial rewards; either they feel happy and privileged to offer love and care or they don’t. I always felt sad that my son, being in the RAF, was always being moved around the country and even abroad while my granddaughters were growing up, and so, with only two exceptions, I missed out on caring for them.

Luckily for them, their mum was able to stay at home and be a proper mother, so they never suffered in any way.

They are now young ladies and we are not as close as we would have been if I had shared their bringing up in that special way. All the grandparents that I know are happy to share in the care of their grandchildren.

I hope this “special relationship” is not sullied by the Government bringing in any different rules – partly because if funds are allocated for this purpose, state regulations are bound to follow, along with all the problems that this will surely bring, and partly because you can bet your boots that the one who will end up footing this new and unnecessary bill will be the taxpayer, at a time when any new expenditure will be viewed with suspicion. I hope that the Government will reconsider this latest ill-thought-out idea, which I feel would be yet another nail in the coffin of our fast-failing family life.

Heather Causnett, Escrick Park Gardens, Escrick, York.