Grandparents play varied roles in their grandchildren's lives. Prior work has focused mostly on historical trends in and implications of grandparent coresidence and has not considered more broadly ...how grandparents and grandchildren interact. Using time‐use diary data for 6,762 person‐years from the 1997 to 2007 waves of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics Child Development Survey, the authors examine patterns in the amount and activity composition of time American children spent with their grandparents, differentiated by family structure, adult employment, and child's age. Results showed that although only about 7% of children lived with their grandparents, many more children spent time with their grandparents: about 50% of young children, 35% of elementary‐age children, and 20% of teens spent at least some time with their grandparents in a typical week. This suggests that grandparents play a variety of roles in their grandchildren's lives, depending on the amount and kinds of support needed.
This paper uses Swedish administrative data to examine the impact of grandparenthood on retirement behaviour. For causal identification, I exploit conditionally random variation in the births of ...first grandchildren using an event study design. The results show a significant increase in the retirement probability for grandmothers and grandfathers when the first grandchild is born, with no significant differences between them. The effects of the arrival of the grandchild on retirement increase over time after the grandchild is born. The incremental effects are larger among grandparents in the upper half of the earnings distribution than among their counterparts. The findings suggest that grandparenthood makes grandfathers and grandmothers less elastic to financial incentives and other regulations that also promote longer working lives in a country with generous family policies, such as Sweden.
•Children affect parents’ labour supply, but little is known about grandparenthood.•I use Swedish data and event study to estimate grandparenthood’s impact on retirement.•Grandchildren increase retirement likelihoods for both grandparents, equally.•Grandchild’s arrival affects retirement in subsequent years.•Stronger effect on grandparents who can cope with labour exits.
Grandparents caring for grandchildren has increased globally in the past two decades, but we have a limited understanding of its effects on custodial grandchildren's mental/behavioural health and ...educational outcomes. This mixed methods systematic review aims to synthesise mental/behavioural health and educational outcomes of custodial grandchildren within custodial grandparent‐headed families and with comparison to other types of household structure and further examine factors associated with these outcomes. A systematic review following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses guidelines was conducted. We searched ERIC, Family Studies s, PsycINFO, PubMed, Scopus, Social Work and SocINDEX in March 2021 and screened 14,515 articles, which resulted in the inclusion of 42 studies, including 33 quantitative, seven qualitative and two mixed methods studies. The quality of included studies was assessed. This review covered 10 countries, yet most studies revealed that grandchildren raised by grandparents had adverse mental/behavioural health and educational outcomes compared to their peers raised by biological parents. This review further identified multi‐level factors contributing to custodial grandchildren's adverse outcomes. Methodological limitations and implications for future practice and research were discussed.
Guided by theories and empirical research on intergenerational relationships, we examine the phenomenon of grandparents caring for grandchildren in contemporary China. Using a longitudinal dataset ...(China Health and Nutrition Survey), we document a high level of structural and functional solidarity in grandparent-grandchildren relationships. Intergenerational solidarity is indicated by a high rate of coresidence between grandchildren and grandparents, a sizable number of skipped-generation households (no parent present), extensive childcare involvement by non-coresidential grandparents, and a large amount of care provided by coresidential grandparents. Multivariate analysis further suggests that grandparents' childcare load is adaptive to familial needs, as reflected by the characteristics of the household, household members and work activities of the mothers.
Objective
This study investigates longitudinal associations between providing care to grandchildren and cognitive functioning. It also examines heterogeneity in these relationships.
Background
...Grandchild caregiving may support older adults' cognitive functioning by providing social engagement and emotional meaning. However, studies caution that time‐intensive or custodial grandchild caregiving can take a toll on grandparents. The cognitive health implications of grandchild caregiving may thus depend on contexts including time spent providing care and living arrangements. They may also vary across sociodemographic groups and have greater effects on older adults who are more vulnerable to cognitive decline.
Method
Data came from the 1998–2016 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and represented over 11,000 US adults aged 50+. Using linear growth curve and dynamic panel models, the analysis explored relationships between level of grandchild care and cognitive functioning over time and across sociodemographic, family, work, and health characteristics.
Results
Those providing 100–199, 200–499, or 500+ h of care to grandchildren had better cognitive functioning than non‐caregivers regardless of whether they lived with grandchildren. Positive links between grandchild caregiving and cognition were stronger for lower income, non‐working, and unpartnered adults and grew with age and functional limitations.
Conclusion
These findings suggest that providing care to minor grandchildren may help support cognitive functioning as adults age. They also support the hypothesis that more vulnerable or isolated groups of older adults may benefit the most from grandchild caregiving.
•More and more families are choosing to have older adults raising their grandchildren.•Depression is a psychological problem they face.•Current studies lacked person-centered studies.•Latent profile ...analysis can distinguish subgroups and find hidden information.•Identification of relevant factors helps in the development of interventions.
To explore the latent profile of depression in older adults raising grandchildren in China, and to analyze the differences in the characteristics of the different profiles of the population and the factors influencing them.
This study utilized the 2018 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). Through a cross-sectional study, the latent profile analysis was used to analyze the potential classification of depression among older adults raising grandchildren, and using ordered multi-categorical logistic regression analyses to assess the effects of each factor on their different classifications.
The 1271 older adults raising grandchildren with depression symptoms were divided into three categories: low-level depression (55.4%), moderate-level depression (31.2%), and high-level depression (13.4%). Ordered multi-categorical Logistic results showed: Gender, marital status, pension insurance, physical health status, life satisfaction, and IADL were predictors of latent profile classification of depression symptoms in older adults raising grandchildren (P < 0.05).
In the future of primary care, it will be more meaningful to provide targeted interventions for different subgroups of depression in older adults raising grandchildren.
This study aimed to generate localized knowledge by investigating the perceptions and experiences of preadolescent grandchildren and grandparents regarding grandparenting and intergenerational ...interactions and how these processes were related to the social skills of preadolescents from three ethnic groups in Malaysia. Using a concurrent quantitative–qualitative mixed method research design, Chinese, Malay, and Indian preadolescents (N = 465; ages 9–12 years old; M = 10.27 years; SD = 1.03) from rural areas in Malaysia completed a self‐administered quantitative survey; furthermore, 25 grandparents participated in one‐on‐one interviews. Survey findings showed that preadolescent grandchildren who reported higher grandparental warmth and support had greater social skills, mediated by positive grandparent–grandchildren (GP–GC) relationships. The GP–GC relationship and preadolescent social skills association was stronger for skipped generation compared to three‐generation households. Interview findings revealed that grandparents expressed unconditional love and autonomy support in their grandparenting roles by guiding and encouraging their preadolescent grandchildren to make decisions. The GP–GC interactions served as a dynamic force in promoting preadolescents' social skills. By employing a decolonized approach and drawing on the lived experiences of grandparents from three ethnic backgrounds in rural Malaysia, the study provided an understanding of grandparenting practices and their general implications across the three ethnic groups. The interview responses highlighted both commonalities and specificities in grandparenting practices and relationship dynamics shaped by religious, class, and sociocultural dimensions in rural Malaysia.
Objective
This study examined adult grandchildren's experience of losing a grandparent in the context of a multigenerational family.
Background
Although the death of a grandparent in adulthood is ...often an expected life event, this loss may still result in grief for adult grandchildren. Furthermore, bereavement is not merely an individual experience, but a family one. Characteristics of the relationship between bereaved adult grandchildren and their bereaved middle‐generation parents may influence adult grandchildren's grief responses. This includes both structural (e.g., gender of parent; coresidence with parent) and emotional (e.g., relationship quality; worry about parent) aspects of this tie.
Method
Young adult grandchildren from Wave 2 of the Family Exchanges Study (2013, N = 204) reported on their recent grandparent loss experiences (N = 216) and relationships with their middle‐generation parents (N = 142).
Results
Three‐level multilevel models revealed that (a) grandsons who lost a grandmother reported significantly fewer grief symptoms than all other gender combinations; (b) worry about a middle‐generation parent was associated with higher grief symptoms, but; (c) this effect was significantly stronger when the middle‐generation parent was a mother, and when adult grandchildren were coresident with that bereaved parent. Finally, relationship quality with the middle‐generation parent was not associated with grief symptoms, irrespective of context.
Conclusion
Results highlight the intersection of emotional and structural aspects of multigenerational relationships following the death of a family member.
•A majority of non-parental care is provided by grandparents.•Custodial grandchildren had better academic outcomes than foster children.•Custodial grandchildren had fewer behavioral problems than ...foster children.
Several nationwide and state-level programs exist to help the educational achievement and scholastic performance of foster children. However, most non-parental care is actually provided by grandparents. Prior research concerning the academic achievement and behaviors of custodial grandchildren is limited, with most current research using children raised by their parents as a comparison group. This study sought to compare custodial grandchildren instead to foster children, as they share similar background characteristics and circumstances for alternative care. The current study hypothesized that positive parenting practices would increase academic performance, and that differences would exist between foster children and custodial grandchildren in academic achievement. Secondly, it was hypothesized that caregiver role would moderate the relation between positive parenting practices and academic achievement. These hypotheses were mostly supported, in that custodial grandchildren were rated as having higher levels of self-control, persistence, and academic self-efficacy related to school. Beyond academic achievement, custodial grandchildren were reported as having less instances of behavioral misconduct. Additionally, caregiver type was found to be a significant moderator. These findings may help inform parenting practices and school interventions to better support children raised by non-parental caregivers.
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