The Good Grandparent: Perspectives of Young Adults

As life expectancy increases, the role of grandparent has increased in duration and is continually adapting as families change in structure, function and form. Across the past several decades, researchers have examined grandparenting styles, finding some consistency as well as the emergence of newer styles, and evidence that grandparenting styles are related to the age and gender of both the grandparents and the grandchildren. In this study, we investigated young adults’ perceptions of grandparenting quality. University Students (N?=?470) from a Midwestern university responded to an online survey that asked them to evaluate the quality of their grandparents grandparenting now and at two retrospective points in time, childhood and adolescence. We hypothesized that the grandparents' performance of multiple styles of their role would be related to grandparenting quality. In addition, we expected that preferred grandparental roles would vary in relation to grandchildren's gender. The results of regression analysis indicated that, although grandparenting quality tended to decline across the respondents' developmental stages, higher ratings at an earlier stage were related to higher ratings at the latter two stages. Further, grandsons preferred grandparents who performed as supporters and advisors, whereas granddaughters preferred grandparents who functioned as supporter and friend. Overall, grandmothers were likely to be the more significant grandparent. Continual research on both grandchildren and grandparents will be needed to chronicle the development of the grandparental role in changing times.     

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.     

The Legacy of a Grandparent's Divorce: Consequences for Ties Between Grandparents and Grandchildren

This study assesses the implications of divorce in the grandparent generation for grandparent‐grandchild relationships. The sample of 538 grandparents comes from the Iowa Youth and Families Project. Results indicate that many aspects of grandparenting are negatively associated with ever experiencing a divorce. Some of the negative effects of divorce are explained by ever‐divorced grandparents' greater geographic distance from, and weaker bonds to, their adult children. Negative effects of divorce are stronger for grandfathers and paternal grandparents. Furthermore, a good grandparent‐parent relationship can compensate for the negative effects of a grandparent's divorce on relations with grandchildren. Implications of these findings are discussed in the context of the increasing percentage of individuals moving into the later years who have experienced a divorce.     

Grandparents,kinship ties,and belonging after migration: the perspective of second‐generation grandchildren

In this article, I investigate the roles of grandparents for second‐generation immigrants who live with their parents in a different country from their grandparents. I draw on in‐depth interviews with second‐generation Vietnamese immigrants living in the Czech Republic, where they are very often raised by Czech caregivers. The carers and the children are joined through the process of caregiving and become grandmothers and grandchildren to each other. The analysis focuses on how the interviewees make sense of, interpret, and understand their roles as grandchildren vis‐à‐vis their Czech and Vietnamese grandmothers. It shows how, after migration, the kinship ties are performed, negotiated, and reproduced on a micro level of everyday life, with tasks of caring, homeland visits, and a transnational/face‐to‐face maintenance of intimacy. The article concludes that grandparents play an important role in the grandchildren's sense of belonging both to their family kin and to the homeland.     

Grandparent Carers,Child Protection Practice,and the Best Interests of Children: A Case Study

Increasingly, grandparents are involved in the care of grandchildren, particularly after child safety concerns. Some grandparents, because of changed circumstances, relationships, or decisions made, can experience reduced or lost contact with grandchildren. A recent qualitative, collaborative study explored how relationships between grandparents and their grandchildren could be optimised after child safety concerns. Many grandparents in that study spoke of the frustration of being overlooked in decision-making about their grandchildren, even when they had been providing primary care for the grandchildren. The purpose of this article is to provide a brief background study context, before presenting a case study of one family's ongoing struggles to maintain the children in the grandparents’ care. The presented case study has relevance for social work education and training and more widely, for all students and practitioners in the child protection field.     

Ambivalence and the paradoxes of grandparenting

This paper focuses on ‘normative talk’ about grandparenting. It is based on a secondary analysis of a study involving 46 interviews with grandparents. It identifies two main cultural norms of grandparenting that emerged from the data –‘being there’ and ‘not interfering’. There were very high levels of consensus in the study that these constituted what grandparents ‘should and should not’ do. However, these two norms can be contradictory, and are not easy to reconcile with the everyday realities of grandparenting. The study found that norms of parenting and also of self determination were also very important for the grandparents in the study. They had a keen sense of what being a ‘good parent’ (to their own adult children) should mean – especially in terms of allowing them to be independent – but this could sometimes conflict with their sense of responsibility to descendant generations of grandchildren. Using the concept of ambivalence and drawing on the accounts of grandparents in the study, the paper explores and offers an explanation for both the coexistence and conflict between different sets of norms, as well as for the remarkably high levels of consensus about ‘being there’ and ‘not interfering’. The paper concludes with a discussion of some of the limitations of the data and the analysis, and with suggestions for the development of further work in this area.     

Pathways into Caregiving for Rural Custodial Grandparents

ABSTRACT

Although one-quarter (25%) of custodial grandparents live in rural areas, less is known about these families than their urban counterparts. This qualitative study was conducted to determine pathways into care with rural families; that is, the reasons and process into custodial grandparenting roles. Based upon interviews with fourteen grandparents, three major pathways were identified. The most common was co-residential where the parent generation exited a multi-generational household. In the incremental pathway, grandparents had attempted multiple strategies with the culmination of taking physical custody of the grandchildren. A final pathway, immediate care, was typically the result of a family crisis situation. Needs and challenges for custodial grandparents differ depending upon their unique pathway into this caregiving role.     

Family Contingencies Across the Generations: Grandparent‐Grandchild Relationships in Holistic Perspective

Family relationships do not occur in isolation but rather are embedded within greater systems of family ties. In recognition of the need to study families holistically, we explore how relations between grandparents and grandchildren are contingent upon a matrix of intergenerational relationships. Using data from the Iowa Youth and Families Project, our analyses focus on person‐centered types of grandparent‐grandchild relationships and the legacy of social ties across the generations, as mediated by other family relationships. We find multiple dimensions of grandparents' involvement with their grandchildren to be associated with (a) whether the grandparents knew their own grandparents when they were young, (b) the grandparent's perceptions of contact and closeness with the target grandchild, and (c) nuances in the relationships of grandparents with the parent generation.     

Grandparent-Grandchild Relationships in Israel: A Comparison between Different Jewish Religious Groups

This article is a review of studies concerning the effect of religiosity on the relationships between grandparents and grandchildren in Israeli Jewish society. The main findings of the studies indicated that religious grandparents are more involved with grandchildren in the context of transmitting traditions, knowledge, values, and behaviors. However, secular grandparents provided more instrumental support for their grandchildren than Haredi grandparents. In addition, adult religious grandchildren provided more assistance to their grandparents than secular grandchildren. The few differences that were found between religious and secular grandparents indicate the universality of the grandparenthood role and its importance for all grandparents.     

‘My grandchild has a disability’: Impact on grandparenting identity, roles and relationships

Being a grandparent is an important and valued role for many older adults, who often have strong views about the type of grandparent they will be and what they will teach their grandchild. When their grandchild has a disability, grandparents may have to significantly adjust their expectations and interactions. This research explores if and how having a grandchild with a disability influences grandparents' sense of identity and enactment of the grandparent role. Using qualitative purposive sampling, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 22 grandparents of children with an intellectual and/or physical disability residing in Brisbane, Australia. A thematic analysis identified three key themes characterising grandparent's views: formation of grandparenting identity, styles of grandparenting, and role enactment. The results highlight the critical role of grandparents when a child has a disability, illustrating that the grandparenting experience and role enactment may be universal with only the context and delivery varying.     

Grandparenting and age identity

This study examines multiple dimensions of age identity, including how old people feel, how old people want to be, how old people hope to live to, and how old is old. We pay particular attention to the influence of the grandparent role and the timing of the transition to grandparenthood. We use data from a Midwestern sample of 666 elderly Americans included in the Iowa Youth and Families Project (IYFP). The analysis suggests that older people who enjoy being grandparents feel younger, believe that people become old at older ages, and hope to live longer than those who do not enjoy grandparenting. In addition, those who became grandparents at younger ages feel older than those who enter this role “on time.” While becoming a grandparent at a young age may in a sense accelerate aging, positive interaction with grandchildren can lead to a younger age identity.     

Missing Grandchildren: Grandparents’ Lost Contact and Implications for Social Work

The critical importance of maintaining family contact and intergenerational relationships for ongoing wellbeing is known to social work. Equally known is the damage caused by severed relationships. Recent literature has suggested an increased incidence of grandparents raising their grandchildren, often after family breakdown. Less evident in the literature is grandparents’ experience of reduced, lost, or denied contact with their grandchildren. In the qualitative, exploratory study reported here, the lived experiences of 21 Queensland grandparents were documented through in-depth interviews. The overall findings suggest that disrupted, lost, or denied contact with grandchildren was very distressing and impacted on grandparents’ health; that seeking to safeguard and support grandchildren could result in damaged family relationships and denied contact; and that a cycle of lost and regained contact can occur in some circumstances. These findings indicate that an increased role for social workers may be warranted, in listening to and including grandparents when working with families, and recognising grandparents’ need for support.     

Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: Formation,Disruption and Intergenerational Transmission of Attachment

Abstract

Nationally and internationally, grandparents support their children and grandchildren by caring for those children who may be at risk in their own home, often in the contemporary context for extended periods. Attachment theory provides a framework to consider how the lives of children, parents and grandparents are affected when grandchildren come to live with their grandparents, whether it be on a shared basis or as a long-term arrangement. The concept also provides a guide to supporting each generation in the contemporary context, as formal or informal arrangements.     

Backup Parents,Playmates, Friends: Grandparents' Time With Grandchildren

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.     

Adolescents in Foster Care with Their Grandparents

ABSTRACT

The aim of this research was to analyse the relationships between foster grandparents and their adolescent grandchildren. The sample consisted of 54 grandparents from Malaga (Spain), with a mean age of 65.9 for grandfathers and 63.6 for grandmothers, who foster 70 adolescents, 31 boys and 39 girls, with ages ranging between 11 and 17. The majority of the grandfathers were retired, while the grandmothers worked at home. The grandparents presented a low level of education and scant economic resources. The results indicated that the relationship between the grandparents and grandchildren was mainly perceived as good or very good. The grandparents perceived that grandchildren maintained a better relationship with their grandmothers, whom they trusted more and to whom they disclosed more, than with their grandfathers. The grandparents recognised that their relationship with their grandchildren was perceived more as parent-child than grandparent-grandchild. The grandparents were more affectionate and communicative with their grandchildren than critical or rejecting. They also used more inductive styles than rigid or indulgent forms when applying rules.     

The Role of Federal Policies in Supporting Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Families

Abstract

Grandparents caring for their grandchildren is among the oldest practices in child rearing with roots embedded in the traditions across many cultures. However, in recent years, the issue of “grandparents raising their grandchildren” has garnered the attention of researchers, advocates, service providers and even the popular press. Dynamic changes in family life, related social trends and child welfare policies in the United States have resulted in dramatic growth of intergenerational care giving among this population. The 2000 United States Census shows that there are 6 million children living in grandparent- and other relative-maintained households, which represents a thirty-percent increase from the last Census. This growth has created the need for effective federal policies that support and insure the well-being of these families.

This paper examines some of the reasons grandparents raising grandchildren are capturing public attention, and the growing needs for effective federal policies that support this burgeoning population. We will (1) provide a brief demographic sketch of grandparent-headed families, (2) identify some of the challenges faced by these families, and (3) explore some of the most effective federal public policies, in particular the new National Family Caregiver Support Program, which are emerging from an intergenerational agenda directed at assisting these families. We conclude by noting that the issue of “grandparents raising their grandchildren” presents a unique opportunity to develop coalitions and policies that cross sometimes rigidly defined age-based policy structures.     

Displaying grandparenting within Romanian transnational families

In this article, I use the analytical framework of ‘displaying family relationships’ to explore the transnational grandparenting practices of Romanian families. I discuss the theoretical aspects of the concept of displaying with regard to its scope, specificity and manifestation. I emphasize the uniqueness of each instance of displaying, while also revealing the various patterns through which family‐related motivations trigger individual behaviour. Highlighting the intersections between such internal motivations and displaying behaviour, the research underlines the various challenges that transnational grandparents encounter, and the ways in which they react to them.     

Transnational grandparenting: an introduction

This first special issue dedicated to grandparenting patterns and their significance within transnational families sheds new light on transnational grandparenting as a phenomenon reflecting the convergence of three major transformations in today's societies – global ageing, diversification of migration and mobility flows, and lifestyle individualization. It contains five articles based on empirical studies conducted in several European countries (Switzerland, Luxembourg, Spain, Romania, and the Czech Republic) focusing on transnational families from both EU and non‐EU countries (Germany, France, Italy, Brazil, Morocco, Algeria, Switzerland, Britain, Portugal, Romania, and Vietnam). These articles portray transnational grandparenting through the prism of three nexuses (mobile/non‐mobile, migrant/non‐migrant, and kin/non‐kin), thus allowing one to understand grandparents' roles in the transnational circulation of care in the light of contemporary family transformations on the one hand, and of the increased transnationalization of everyday ‘doing family’ practices on the other.     

An Intergenerational Perspective on Grandparent Roles

Abstract

This study provides an intergenerational perspective on grandparent roles. Data was collected from young parents (N = 105) and middle-age and older adults (N = 105). Both groups identified multiple roles as important for grandparents to initiate with young grandchildren: these included being a playmate as well as a friend, teacher, and role model. Intergenerational differences were also found with middle-age and older adults more likely than young parents to rank religious guide (p < .001) and family historian (p < .05) as important roles to enact with young grandchildren. However, the young parents were more likely than the older participants to predict that grandparents would be remembered by their grandchildren as fun, having high values, being a role model, and financially supportive (p < .001). Recommendations for future intergenerational research are recommended.