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More and more grandparents are taking care of their grandchildren
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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The help of the older generation in caring for and raising children is invaluable. Who else will tell, give advice and help young parents? Moreover, who will love the child so tenderly, take care of him and surround him with attention?
However, the relationship between young families and their parents does not always develop so smoothly.
A new study from the University of Chicago found that 60 percent of grandparents care for their grandchildren for ten years, and 70 percent of those who help a young family for two or more years.
The latest census results, conducted in 2010, show the role of the older generation in the process of raising children and in their lives in general. 8% of older people live with their grandchildren, and 2.7 million provide them with everything they need. In 2006, this figure was 2.4 million.
In addition, grandparents help mothers with child care. This is due to the fact that 30% of women who have children under five are employed.
"Our research shows that older people vary in how much they help and how much they do. For example, grandparents with low incomes or less than tertiary education are much more likely to provide childcare," says study co-author Professor Linda White.
While a minority of low-income older adults were willing to take on the responsibilities of running a household and raising grandchildren, the majority were not willing to do so, limiting themselves to only a small share of participation in their lives.
The study, which aimed to determine the extent and level of assistance from the older generation to young families, was conducted from 1998 to 2008 with the support of the National Institute on Aging. During the long-term study, 13,614 grandparents aged 50 and older were interviewed. At two-year intervals, specialists determined how much time and attention they devoted to their grandchildren.
Scientists have identified several forms of such guardianship: when children and grandchildren live with elderly people and do not participate in housekeeping, and when grandparents take full guardianship over their grandchildren without the participation of their parents.
The research data demonstrates the following results:
- African Americans and Hispanics are more likely than Europeans to live in large, multigenerational families, and are also more likely to have families in which grandparents raise their grandchildren on their own.
- Grandparents with higher income and education levels are more likely to hire a nanny for their child than to care for the child themselves.
- Those representatives of the older generation who are still married are more willing to agree to babysit children.
- In the event that families of both generations live under the same roof, older people are less likely to interfere in the process of raising a child.
- The grandparents who are least willing to help are those who are older, divorced, and most likely unemployed.
The research data may be useful for planning state policy in the area of family and social protection of children.
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