Director of Bright Blue, Ryan Shorthouse, said: "The Chancellor is right to enable parents with young children to transfer any of their unused Shared Parental Leave to their working grandparents, as recommended by Bright Blue last year.

Grandparents increasingly need to and want to work when they are older. Grandparents in England are already more likely to be in paid work compared to those in other European countries.

Extending parental leave to grandparents will give families more choice over how to look after their young children and enable more older people to balance their work and family commitments. Helping older people to retain work is also likely to reduce poverty."

Bright Blue recommended extending Shared Parental Leave to working grandparents in its 2014 report, Give & Take.