A demographic examination of grandparent caregivers in the Census 2000 Supplementary Survey

As part of the 1996 Welfare Reform Act, the Census Bureau is required to determine how many grandparents are serving as caregivers to a grandchild. Using data from the Census 2000 Supplementary Survey, this paper presents demographic information on two types of grandparent households, and outlines the challenges associated with use of the new questions about grandparent care developed by the Census Bureau. We compare skipped-generation households, in which a grandparent and grandchild coreside but no parent is present, to three-generation shared-care households in which the grandparent claims primary responsibility for the grandchild. We focus on two geographic regions of the United States, New England and the Deep South, providing the first report on the prevalence and characteristics of these households, and the extent to which these attributes are geographically variable. We estimate that the population of three-generation shared-care families is at least as large as the population ofskipped-generation grandparent care families.We identify a number of differences between skipped-generation and shared-care households, especially with respect to the age of the grandchildren involved and the levels of economic hardship. Significant regional differences are also observed, with grandparent care households of both types being more common in the Deep South than in New England. We conclude that data using these new questions have the potential to greatly enrich our demographic understanding of grandparent households by shedding new light on a type of grandparent care often hidden from analysis: grandparents who are responsible for grandchildren in three-generation households.     

Grandparenting and support from adult children: Does children’s international migration make a difference for Chinese older adults?

ABSTRACT

Guided by social exchange theory, this study investigates the association between grandparenting and support from adult children, and the role of children’s international migration in moderating such association. Data were derived from a 2012 survey of older adults in Beijing, China (478 adult children nested in 300 older parents). The results of independent cluster logistic and linear regressions showed that regardless of children’s migration status, grandparenting was significantly associated with a greater likelihood of receiving household help and personal care, but not with emotional or financial support from children. Children’s migration status moderated the associations between grandparenting and receiving support from children. Theoretical implications for research and practical implications for services and policies are discussed.     

Experiences of Grandparenting Disabled Children in the UK: A Qualitative Study of Intergenerational Relationships

Contemporary patterns of family, work, and welfare make the experience of grandparenting complex and diverse. This UK-based qualitative study aimed to explore grandparenting in the context of childhood disability. Nine grandparents (aged 59–79 years) with disabled and non-disabled grandchildren took part in semi-structured interviews. Grandparents provided extensive instrumental and emotional care and support and sought a balance between involvement versus interfering. Grandparents actively drew on life experiences to engage with services to maximize support. Contemplating the future, grandparents had concerns for adult children as well as grandchildren. Developing policies to support grandparents of disabled grandchildren are urgently required.     

Interdependence in Asian Families

Abstract

The Asian extended family has been characterized by the principle of ‘interdependence’ between generations in praxis. In gerontological literature, it is known as ‘generalized reciprocity’ which extends between generations. To explore the concept of interdependence further, and to examine its translation into reality within multigenerational families, a qualitative research study involving three-generation families was conducted in Singapore. The results of 30 interviews are reported from a total of 10 families. The different aspects of interdependence and its impact on the emotional components of relationships between generations will be described, within the context of a fast modernizing city. The implications of findings for policies, services and intergenerational programs conclude the paper.     

农村幼儿祖辈依赖对其心理健康的影响：祖辈隔代教养类型和幼儿接受隔代教养起始阶段的调节作用

为考察农村幼儿的祖辈依赖对其心理健康的影响机制,在农村3所幼儿园采用“幼儿祖辈依赖量表”和“幼儿心理健康评定量表”调查了142名农村祖辈隔代教养幼儿的祖辈依赖和心理健康状况,研究发现：农村幼儿的祖辈依赖与其心理健康问题及大多数子维度相关显著;幼儿祖辈依赖能正向预测其心理健康问题;祖辈隔代教养类型和幼儿接受隔代教养起始阶段在幼儿祖辈依赖和心理健康问题之间具有显著的调节效应。     

“I always expected to have grandchildren some day”: The long road from sense of loss to gradual acceptance

ABSTRACT

This paper explores, through the use of narrative data, ways in which older parents respond to the realization that they never will become grandparents. Stated reactions range from unresolved grief and anger to happily finding substitute ties to relief in having a retirement free of caretaking and gift giving expectations. While the research literature and popular media focus on the importance of grandparent roles from the perspective of the child, little attention is paid to either the importance of this role to the grandparents themselves or the magnitude of grandparent deprivation of this role in the lives of older adults.     

中国老年人隔代照料与 健康后果的实证研究及政策思考

在中国家庭代际关系的研究中,隔代照料这一选题极为重要,隔代照料也是老年和家庭福利政策制定的重要影响因素。老年人隔代照料与健康问题日益受到国内学者的关注,但对两者相关性的深入实证考察较少,仅有的研究也未就隔代照料产生的健康后果达成共识,政策应对亦存局限。为此,本文基于2014年中国老年社会追踪调查(CLASS)截面数据,探讨中国老年人照料孙子女对自身健康产生的后果及几个主要变量之间的交互作用,对其进行量化研究并通过稳健性检验。研究得出三项基本结论:隔代照料的健康后果受到照料强度、子女特征、居住模式及老年人自身罹患慢性疾病状况的影响,在不同的特征状况下呈现不同的健康结果;照料者受教育程度、照料者性别、健在子女数等变量间的交互作用对被解释变量(照料者健康)产生了不同程度的调节作用,成年子女向上的代际支持也对老年照料者的健康发挥了调节作用;使用工具变量(照料者是否享受老年优待政策)进行因果识别在一定程度上克服了解释变量与被解释变量间的内生性问题。最后,本文基于上述实证研究的结果从代际关系视角、社会性别视角和老年婚姻社会功能等方面提出公共政策的应对思考,以期为制定相应的老年和家庭福利政策提供策略和依据。