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| Estimated Number of Printed Pages: 10
TOPICS COVERED: Popular media frequently bemoan the disappearance of the traditional grandparents, sitting in rocking chairs, ready to spin a good yarn into a story or knit it in a sweater. But the truth is not many people ever really had that type of grandparent. In fact, historically, just having grandparents was a rarity. And grandparents' roles have always varied by culture. At the same time, almost everywhere, grandparents are a huge source of child care and family support – and with rising life expectancies, grandparents may now actually be becoming more – not less – of a long-term fixture within families. But what does that mean? Should grandparents take a more active role in their grandchildren's lives? How should they balance their lives with those of their families? To better understand the difficulty in answering those questions, this memo has information relating to grandparents – including demographic information, analysis of the quality of relationships grandparents have with their grandchildren, and information about how many grandparents live with their grandchildren. Then, we have a lot of information about a topic which isn't frequently written about – grandparents who are raising their grandchildren on their own.
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| children born in 1900 would have had all four grandparents alive at the time of their birth. 1.
One in fifty
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| children born in 1900 would have had all four grandparents live until they'd reached the age of 15. 2.
And most would not see old age themselves –
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| Of American children born in 1900-1902, only about 39 percent of men and 43 percent of women would survive to age 65. 3.
One-third
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| of American children born in the late 1970s had all four grandparents alive. 4.
Approximately 70 percent
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| of American children born in the late 1970s had at least two of their grandparents still alive when they reached adulthood. 5.
47.5 percent
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| of Finnish children born in 1998 had all four of their grandparents still alive at their birth. 6.
12.5 percent
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| of Finnish teenagers in 1998 had still had all of their grandparents; 15.6 percent of them had no surviving grandparents. 7.
Approximately 35 percent
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| of U.S. grandparents work more than 30 hours a week. 8.
Approximately 35 percent
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| of U.S. grandparents are married. 9.
Approximately 34 percent
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| of U.S. grandparents have living parents. 10.
5.5 million
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| Number of U.S. grandparents living with one or more of their grandchildren under 18 years old – 5.6 million grandkids in all (eight percent of all children in the U.S.). By and large, the kids are living in their grandparent's house: 4.2 million grandparents are the householder. 11.
2.6 million
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| Number of U.S. family households where the grandparent is the householder, and their children and grandchildren live with them. 12.
Four percent
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| of Americans age 30 and over live with grandchildren. 13.
Twice that –
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| Eight percent of Blacks, Hispanics, American Indians, and Alaska natives, age 30 and over live with grandchildren – twice the national rate. And for Pacific Islanders, it's ten percent. 14.
60 percent
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| of the American grandparents living with their grandchildren are under 60 years old. 15.
Ambiguous –
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| the role of modern American grandparents, who are torn between maintaining their own autonomy and a desire to be involved with their grandchildren's lives. 16.
"Remote"
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| 29 percent of American grandparents are "remote" – emotionally and / or geographically – from their grandchildren. 17.
"Companionate"
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| 55 percent of American grandparents are "companionate"; they love their grandchildren and enjoy being around them, but have no real responsibility for them. 18.
"Involved"
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| 16 percent of American grandparents are "involved" – spending a substantial amount of time with their grandchildren and exercise a form of parental influence over them. 19.
"The exception, not the rule"
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| for American grandparents to provide their grandchildren with intensive caregiving. 20.
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| “. . . black grandparents, on average, were more deeply involved in their grandchildren’s lives than were white grandparents. . . . Moreover, the greater involvement of black grandmothers seemed to hold at all income levels, a finding consistent with reports of the importance of extended kin in black middle-class families.” 54.
Mind watching the kids? Well, maybe –
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| In a survey of U.S, baby boomers, the majority look forward to having grandchildren – but they don't necessarily want to be responsible for them. 38 percent would be happy to baby-sit for more than 2 weeks, but 28 percent would be unhappy. And don't worry about knowing which grandparent you've got: they'll tell you. Of those who would be unhappy, the majority will tell that to their children. 21.
Filipino American grandparents, on the other hand –
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| view the grandparenting caregiving role as normal, not than a burden, and may act as surrogate parents and homemakers when parents are absent. This perspective comes from a cultural belief that the family is responsible for caring for its own, from cradle to grave. And the needs of the family come before the needs of a single individual. To the point that Filipino grandparents will even emigrate to America if their children need help raising the kids. 22.
More of them are on their own –
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| In East and Southeast Asia, however, while grandparents might have typically lived with their children in a large extended family household 50 years ago, that is becoming less common. Some still live with their children, but growing numbers are just there for a visit. And the wealthier the country, the more likely it is that grandparents are maintaining separate households. 23.
One percent
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| of all Australian families with children under the age of 17 are headed by grandparents (22,500 families). 24.
75 percent
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| of Austrian men and women over 60 have a grandchild. 16 percent of the men and 23 percent of the women are great-grandparents. 25.
90 percent
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| of all pre-school children in Austria have at least one living grandparent, and 45 percent have four grandparents. Children are on average 11 years old when their grandfather dies, and 23 years old when their grandmother dies. Of all people aged 60 to 74, 62 percent have at least one grandchild. 26.
"Very Close"
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| In an Austrian survey, three out of four grandparents reported that they were very close to their grandchildren. Another 12 percent were "quite close." Only five percent thought that they weren't close with them. 27.
Good News -
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| British grandparents have an important role in their grandchildren's lives – which continues even if the parents separate or divorce. And grandmothers' ties may be important help for children going through such a transition. 28.
– and Bad News
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| Grandparents are the primary source of child care for 20.8 percent of American preschoolers with mothers who are working or are in school. 30.
Important –
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| Grandparents are an important source of childcare for working parents in the U.K. 31.
31 percent
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| of parents in Ireland rely on non-paid relatives – mostly grandparents – for child care. 32.
46 percent
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| of Spanish maternal grandmothers who live in the same city as their preschool grandchildren care for those children while their mother is at work. 33.
38 percent
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| of Spanish maternal grandmothers who live in the same city as their school-age grandchildren care for the children after school. 34.
Very Important –
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| In Spain, while it isn't regularly acknowledged, grandparent-provided child care has been one of the main reasons that women have been able to enter the work force in such large numbers in the past few decades. Without the grandparents' contribution, it likely would not have occurred. 35.
Becoming less available –
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| – 43 percent of the American grandparents who live with their grandchildren – are responsible for providing their grandchildren's basic needs (i.e., food, shelter, and clothing). 37.
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| It's Because of A Crisis –
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| – A British government report found that when grandparents assume full responsibility for raising a grandchild, it's usually the result of a family crisis. 38.
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| – An American study found that grandparents frequently are responsible for their grandchildren because of a serious problem with the parents which makes them incapable of caring for their children – such as a parent's drug addition or imprisonment. 39.
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| – And in South Asia, grandparents are raising their grandchildren because their parents have emigrated to other nations to find work. 40.
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| of U.S. grandparent caregivers are in “skipped generation” households – meaning neither parent of the grandchild lives in the home. 41.
71 percent
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| of the 31,100 Australian children who live with their grandparents are in skipped generation households: both parents are absent. 42.
38.5 percent
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| of the U.S. grandparents who are primary caregivers for their grandchildren have been responsible for the children for at least five years. 43.
18.8 percent
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| of the U.S. grandparents who are primary caregivers for their grandchildren are in poverty. 44.
52 percent
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| of black U.S. grandparents living with their grandchildren are responsible for their care. Similarly, 56 percent of American Indian and Alaska native coresident grandparents are the primary caregiver. Both are higher rates than those of other racial or ethnic groups. 45.
1.4 million
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| U.S. grandparents are working and are responsible for their grandchildren. 46.
50 percent
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| of American grandparents under 50 years of age and living with their grandchildren are responsible for those children's welfare. 47.
Seven percent
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| of U.S. grandparent caregivers are in their 30s. 48.
35 percent
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| of U.S. grandparent caregivers are in their 50s. 49.
One percent
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| of U.S. grandparent caregivers are age 80 and over. 50.
18 percent
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| of American grandparents age 75 to 84 act as caregivers for coresident grandchildren. 51.
Nine percent
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| of American Grandparents age 85 and older acting as caregivers for coresident grandchildren. 52.
31 percent
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| of American grandparents 60 years old and older living with their grandchildren are responsible for those children. 53.
____________________________________________________
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| 16. Discussing a report by Andrew Cherlin and Frank Furstenberg, Jr. Liselotte Wilk, “Intergenerational Relationships: Grandparents and Grandchildren,” Family issues between Gender and Generations, Seminar Report, Equality between Women and Men European Commission, Directorate-General for Employment and Social Affairs Unit E/1, European Observatory on Family Matters at the Austrian Institute for Family Studies (May 2000), p. 28 (citation omitted). Archived at: http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/eoss/downloads/eu_report_en.pdf
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| 23. Stella R. Quah, "Major Trends Affecting Families in East and Southeast Asia," Major Trends Affecting Families: A Background Document, Report for United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Division for Social Policy and Development, Program on the Family (March 2003) (p. 20). Archived at: http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/family/Publications/mtquah.pdf
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| 26. Liselotte Wilk, “Intergenerational Relationships: Grandparents and Grandchildren,” Family issues between Gender and Generations, Seminar Report, Equality between Women and Men European Commission, Directorate-General for Employment and Social Affairs Unit E/1, European Observatory on Family Matters at the Austrian Institute for Family Studies (May 2000), p. 27. Archived at: http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/eoss/downloads/eu_report_en.pdf
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| 35. David Sven Reher, "Family Ties in Western Europe: Persistent Contrasts," Population and Development Review (June 1, 1998). Archived at: http://www.highbeam.com/library/doc3.asp?docid=1G1:21059915 . See also Cordón, Juan Antonio Fernández, The Situation of Families in Spain in 2001, European Observatory on Family Matters (2001), p. 4. Archived at: http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/eoss/downloads/gm_01_spain_cordon_en.pdf and Juan Antonio Fernández Cordón, "Families in Spain: Policies, Challenges and Opportunities," General Monitoring Report, 2004, European Observatory on Family Matters (2004), p. 8. Archived at: http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/eoss/downloads/gm_04_Spain.pdf
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