A little known government scheme means that if a parent goes back to work after the birth of a child, they can sign a form that allows the grandparent to receive National Insurance (NI) credits for helping out

Thousands of people who are helping to bring up their grandchildren could be missing out on more than £260 a year from the government.

Childcare credits were first introduced in 2011 to help support those who may be missing out on their state pension.

It allows family members who are helping with childcare to claim money towards their retirement pot.

More than 20,000 grandparents have made use of childcare credits since it launched, however as much as 80% of the population could be missing out.

To qualify for the new state pension in the UK, you need to have accumulated 35 years’ worth of National Insurance Contributions (NICs) over your working life.

Those with less than 10 years won’t get a penny – and those with between 10 and 34 may only get a fraction of what they could earn.

However, those looking after a child below the age of 12 can get credits to effectively make up the difference.