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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.

The issue of whether the social class of grandparents affects grandchildren's socioeconomic outcomes net of the characteristics of the middle generation is much debated in the social mobility literature. Using data from the 2002 Chinese Household Income Project, we investigate the direct effects of grandparents on grandchildren's educational attainment in rural China. We find that the influence of grandparents is contingent on living arrangements. Although the educational level of coresident grandparents directly affects the educational attainment of their grandchildren, with an effect size similar to that of parental education, the education of noncoresident and deceased grandparents does not have any effect. These findings suggest that grandparents can directly affect grandchildren's educational outcomes through sociopsychological pathways. Our study not only adds an important case study to the literature but also sheds new light on theoretical interpretations of grandparent effects when they are found.

Background. Latino grandparents are often involved in rearing of grandchildren. However, their roles in promoting Latino children’s leisure time physical activity (LTPA) have been largely overlooked by researchers. Aim. The purpose of this study is to examine Latino grandparents’ involvement in and support for grandchildren’s (age 2-12) LTPA as well as issues facing Latino grandparents. Method. Participants included 53 Latino grandparents who lived with/cared for or used to live with/care for grandchildren of 2 to 12 years old in three low-income areas of Los Angeles County. Data were collected using 4 semistructured focus groups and 26 semistructured interviews. Transcribed data were systematically and iteratively coded and analyzed. Results. Latino grandparents perceived various benefits of physical activity to their grandchildren’s physical and mental health, and supported grandchildren’s LTPA directly and indirectly. The direct support included doing physical activity with grandchildren, taking grandchildren to places for physical activities, verbally asking grandchildren to do physical activities, and rewarding grandchildren for doing physical activities. The indirect support was made through providing suggestions to parents. Mothers usually regulated Latino grandparents’ involvement in or support for grandchildren’s LTPA and tended to promote a maternal lineage. Some Latino grandparents reported barriers to supporting grandchildren’s LTPA, including lack of information, access to affordable and safe LTPA facilities/programs, transportation, money, and time. Conclusions. Latino grandparents are advocates for grandchildren’s LTPA and support grandchildren’s LTPA directly and indirectly. It may be promising to develop interventions to increase Latino grandparents’ competency in supporting grandchildren’s LTPA.

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.

Background The subject of personal values prompts deep reflection in the context of foster care provided by kinship carers, in particular grandparents, towards their biological grandchildren. Taking over the care of their own grandchildren may play a confrontational role in the context of grandparents’ personal values, causing a sense of failure in their parenting skills in relation to their biological children, which has various effects on the creation of attachment relationships and the methods of raising grandchildren, who are often already affected by traumatic experiences. Grandparents also have to face public deliberation whether they are in a position to provide proper care for their grandchild or grandchildren when they most probably made various mistakes while raising and caring for their own children. Aim Identification of dominant personal values and stress-coping strategies in relation to the health and social resources of people aged 60 + providing kinship foster care for their grandchildren. Methods This is a continuation of research conducted in 2018–2019 in north-western Poland. The target population comprised 189 families with kinship carers aged 60 + . Consent to participate was obtained from 78 carers, i.e. 41.27% of those eligible for the study. The study was conducted using the diagnostic survey method. The study used the following standardized scales and questionnaires: PVL, Mini-COPE and NEO-FFI, as well as nursing care sheets and an original survey to determine the profile of a kinship foster carer. Results Over 75% of the respondents identified “good health, physical and mental fitness” as the dominant personal value. For 50% of the respondents “successful family life” was a symbol of happiness and for 45.16% of them it was “good health”. As for the stress-coping strategies, the highest average rank of 4.84 was assigned to the “active coping” strategy, followed by a value of 4.56 for the “planning” strategy, and then “acceptance” and “positive reframing”. The strategy which had the lowest rank of 0.08 was “using psychoactive substances”, which did not receive a rank value higher than 2 and was assigned a value of 0 by 95.16% of the respondents. The dominant personality traits among kinship foster carers were: conscientiousness (mean ± SD = 3.34 ± 0.41), followed by agreeableness and extroversion. Neurotic personality traits were reported by the smallest number of respondents (mean ± SD = 1.12 ± 0.63). Conclusions Studies have shown that grandparents taking on the responsible role of kinship foster carers for their grandchildren are guided by love. They point to their health as an important resource. They perform their duties conscientiously and are open to new knowledge. They are capable of dealing with stress constructively. Their resourcefulness and a sense of purpose could increase with improved housing and financial conditions.

Grandparents are increasingly involved in the care and protection of grandchildren. The qualitative Australian study reported here explored how contact between grandparents and their grandchildren could be optimised after child-safety concerns. Interviews and focus groups with seventy-seven participants were undertaken in 2016. In total, fifty-one grandparents and aunties in grand parenting roles, twelve parents, six foster-carers and eight child-protection workers participated in this study. Of the fifty-one participants in grandparent roles, twenty were kinship carers. This article specifically reports on emerging findings regarding grandparents as kinship carers. Key findings reveal that many grandparents were willing to step into the carer role and many wanted to stay connected to grandchildren, although, overall, they received little support. Findings identified the stresses and the fragility of the care arrangements and that at times providing kinship care could endanger carers. Overall, findings point to a perceived notion of kinship care implemented as a cost-effective alternative to foster-care that leaves grandparents without the required support and resources. It is recommended here that grandparents receive greater recognition as kinship carers, and that child-protection systems increase family-inclusive practices that provide better support and resources to kinship carers.

The share of children living with grandparents has increased in recent years. Previous studies have examined how time with grandparents is associated with child well-being, but we know little about how grandparents fare in their time with grandchildren. We used diary data from the American Time Use Study (ATUS) to examine the association between grandparents’ time in activities with grandchildren and multiple measures of their subjective well-being in those activities. We used a subsample of co-residential grandparents from the American Time Use Study ( N  = 868 individuals; 2474 activities), paying close attention to potential differences between three-generational families (those with parents, grandparents and grandchildren living together) and grandfamilies (which do not include the parent generation). We examined subjective well-being (happiness, meaning, sadness, tiredness and stress) in relation to family type (three-generational or grandfamily) and grandchild presence during the activity, as well as other characteristics of the activity (e.g., type of activity, duration, etc.) and of the grandparent (i.e., demographic variables). This is the first study to address grandparent SWB as affective response to activities in relation to presence of grandchildren during those activities. Results of multilevel models show that grandparents living with their grandchildren experienced more happiness and more meaningfulness when they engaged in activities with their grandchildren compared to spending time alone or with other people. This relationship was partially moderated by family type, such that grandfamily grandparents experienced less happiness in time with grandchildren than alone, relative to grandparents in three-generational families.

Using data from the Year 9 Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N ∼ 3,182), we investigated the characteristics grandfamilies (grandparents raising their grandchildren with no parent present, N = 84) and compared them to other key groups, including children's nonresident parents and other economically disadvantaged families with children. Results show that grandparents raising their grandchildren were generally better off in terms of educational attainment, marital status, and economic well-being than the child's parents. Grandparents raising their grandchildren also had characteristics very similar to other disadvantaged mothers. Academic and socioemotional well-being were poorer among children in grandfamilies compared with those living with their mothers, but parenting practices were very similar. These findings suggest that although children in grandfamilies may be at a disadvantage academically and socioemotionally, grandparent caregivers are in many ways similar to other fragile-family mothers. Overall, this study enhances our knowledge of an important yet understudied family type.

PurposeGrandparents can be profoundly emotionally affected when a grandchild is diagnosed with cancer. They also often provide invaluable support for the family (e.g., caring for the sick child and/or siblings). Multigenerational family functioning may therefore change. Limited research has assessed grandparents’ perspectives after their grandchild is diagnosed with cancer. In this study, we aimed to (1) assess differences in perceived family functioning among grandparents of a child with cancer and grandparents of healthy children and (2) assess the cancer-specific and demographic factors related to perceived family functioning in grandparents of a grandchild with cancer.ProcedureGrandparents of a child with cancer (n = 89) and grandparents of healthy children (n = 133) completed the general functioning, communication, and problem-solving scales of the Family Assessment Device. We used multilevel models with a random intercept to detect (1) between-group differences and (2) identify factors related to perceived family functioning among grandparents with a grandchild with cancer.ResultsGrandparents with a grandchild with cancer reported poorer family functioning than grandparents with healthy grandchildren. Among the grandparents with a grandchild with cancer, impairments in family functioning were correlated with fewer years since diagnosis, providing care to their sick grandchild and/or siblings and living far away from the sick grandchild.ConclusionsThe detrimental impact of childhood cancer likely extends beyond the immediate family members. Including grandparents in interventions—beginning at diagnosis—to reduce distress and increase cohesion for families of a child with cancer is warranted, particularly for grandparents who provide care to their sick grandchild or siblings.