Grand-parenting. Custodial grandparents. The lost (or skipped) generation. Kinship care. These terms, though varying in specificity and
perspective, denote a disturbing trend in caring for the nation's
children: grandparents are increasingly becoming responsible for raising their children's children.
According to the
2000 Census, more than 2.4 million grandparents in the U.S. reported having
primary caretaking responsibility for at least one grandchild, with 4.5 million
children being cared for by a grandparent 1, 2.
However, many grandparents who are in fact raising their grandchildren
do so informally, without legal rights or recognition. Because they may fear revealing this
information to a federal agency, the actual numbers may be higher.
Although
grandparents raising grandchildren (GRG) is not a new phenomenon, for the first
time in 2000, the U.S. Census long form included a question on grandparents who
lived with and who were responsible for their grandchildren. In 2000, grandparents under the age of
60, women, and African American, Pacific Islander, and Native American/Alaska
Native ethnicity were most likely to be responsible for grandchildren 1.
Other ethnic groups with a high rate of co-resident grandparents
(Hispanic, Asian) were less likely to be responsible for the
grandchildren.
Grandparent-maintained households also had higher poverty rates (19%)
than for all households with related children present (14%).
A number of
factors result in grandparents assuming responsibility for their grandchildren;
usually, more than one factor is involved in the decision to assume the
parenting role. Personal factors resulting in the parents' inability to
properly care for the children include substance abuse, teenage parenthood,
divorce, death of one or more parent, incarceration, unemployment and/or
labor-related migration, mental and/or physical disability, and more recently,
military deployment.
Cultural factors
also play an important role in both the prevalence of custodial grandparenting
and the meaning and experience of raising one's grandchild. Among the Native American/Alaska Native
groups, grandparents are, by tradition, expected to play a major role in the raising
of grandchildren; children are believed to benefit from intergenerational
caretaking, and there is less stigma and more social acceptance for
grandparents who assume responsibility for their grandchildren. Similarly, among African American
populations, grandmothers traditionally play a significant role in raising
grandchildren, whether or not they have primary responsibility. As Native Americans and African
Americans share a tragic history of forced familial separations, kinship care
can be seen as a "time-honored, cherished family response" 5.
Among Hispanic
and Asian American groups, while it is common for three generations to live in
the same household, it is still expected that parents have primary
responsibility for children; there is greater stigma attached when a
grandparent assumes the role of parent.
European American grandparents are less likely to live with their
children's families or to assume an active role in the raising of
grandchildren; for these grandparents, assuming the parental role for their
grandchildren represents a major change in lifestyle and expectations for their
own role in their later years.
Nonetheless, data indicate that the grandparenting phenomenon cuts
across all racial/ethnic, socioeconomic, and regional lines.
Policy may also
have played a role in the increase in number of custodial grandparents 6.
Although policies vary from state to state, grandparents are now seen as
the best placement option by foster care agencies, although aunts and uncles
and other relatives are also assuming the care for these children in greater
numbers as well. Over the past
decade, many child welfare agencies have established "kinship care," or the
placement of children with relatives, as the preferred option for children
needing short- or long-term foster care or adoption placements. Moreover, "a number of Federal and
State court rulings have recognized the rights of relatives to act as foster
parents and to be compensated financially for doing so" 7.
In its 2003
brief, "Grandparents Living With Grandchildren: 2000," the U.S. Census Bureau
reported that the West Region (including Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado,
Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and
Wyoming) had the highest proportion of co-resident grandparents and
grandchildren (4.3% of adults over the age of 30), but the South region
(Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland,
Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas,
Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia) had the highest
proportion of grandparents as primary caregivers (48% of coresident grandparents). Both of these regions contain "frontier
states" or states with a high proportion of territory designated as "frontier,"
areas with low population densities and long distances from urban areas 1. A
map of the rates of grandparenting at the county-level reveals concentrations
of grandparents raising grandchildren in the South (particularly in the
Mississippi River Valley region), along the Texas border with Mexico, in
Alaska, and in scattered counties in the Rocky Mountain and Plains states
(Figures 1-4).
Issues Facing Grandparents and Grandchildren
For most grandparents,
the responsibility of raising grandchildren comes unexpectedly, and they find themselves
unprepared - financially, emotionally, and physically - for the challenges
presented, particularly when dealing with tragedy or loss of their own
children. Grandparents struggle
with legal, financial, housing, health and medical, child care and respite
care, and educational issues when suddenly faced with raising young
children. A common theme reported
by grandparents is stress and coping with change - changes in familial role,
residence, schools, lifestyle, finances, and life expectations.
Legal issues.
Grandparents may need to be legally recognized caregivers to make
decisions involving children's education or medical care, as well as to
establish rights regarding visitation of parents or in some cases protection
from parents who may attempt to regain custody of their children. Decisions regarding legal custody and
guardianship, adoption, or foster parent status may in turn determine
eligibility for crucial state or federal assistance programs. Working
grandparents usually cannot enroll their grandchildren in health, child care,
or other employee benefit programs without legal custody 10. Grandparents require expert, low-cost legal assistance to
determine the best temporary and long-term course of action. As stated by the Idaho Kinship Care
Coalition, "there is a great deal of need for affordable legal assistance,
mediation services and less red tape" 11.
Financial issues. Many grandparents are retired or living
on limited incomes. The expense of raising a grandchild can wipe out retirement
savings or further exacerbate already difficult financial situations. Some grandparents are forced to quit
working in order to take care of young children, reducing their income. Others who have already retired are
forced to begin working again in order to cover the costs of child rearing. Because of their family circumstances,
many grandchildren have special health care needs. Grandparents often take on the responsibility of caring for
grandchildren out of love and sense of familial duty, preventing many from
seeking or accepting outside assistance programs 12.
Financial issues of
raising grandchildren extend beyond the obvious day-to-day costs of caring for
children. For example,
grandparents who live in subsidized senior housing or housing with restrictions
on the number of persons may be forced to move to more costly housing when
children are added to the household.
And, participation in one assistance program may render them ineligible
for another; grandparents need expert assistance to help navigate various
programs and determine the best overall options.
Respite
care. One of the most frequent needs
expressed by grandparent caregivers is the need for respite from childcare
duties. In rural and frontier
areas, however, childcare services are less available. Unless other family members live near
by, grandparents may have difficulty finding temporary childcare to take care
of their own needs. A major
concern is for grandparents who, through financial and time constraints,
neglect their own mental and physical health while experiencing high stress
levels.
Isolation. Grandparents also find themselves more
socially isolated and restricted from performing their usual social
activities. Grandparents find it
difficult to socialize with the other, younger parents, while their own peers
can't relate to their new childcare duties. The demands of caring for children - either the very young
or school age children - may also prevent them from taking part in their usual
social activities, further exacerbating their sense of isolation. Many grandparents report "losing their
friends" as a consequence of raising grandchildren. Support groups where grandparents can meet and socialize
with other grandparents can help alleviate a sense of being alone.
In rural communities, where isolation is in itself a defining feature of
rurality, the issue of isolation may be even greater. Rural grandparents may not come into contact with other
GRGs, and they feel like they are the only ones in this situation 13. Forming a
support group in a rural area may require members to travel long distances in
order to meet. Access to
information and services in general is lower in rural communities compared with
urban communities.
Stigma. Depending on the circumstances under which
grandchildren come into their custody, grandparents and grandchildren may also
struggle with shame and stigma.
For grandparents, the failure of the grandchildren's parents to care for
them may be seen as a failure of the grandparent to raise their own children
properly. For the grandchildren,
the failures of their parents are conferred on them. Particularly in small communities, the entire family may
face prejudices and negative stereotypes about behavior, even from school and
social service professionals 14.
Generational issues. Grandparents must also cope with
difference in norms and education resulting from the generational gap between
themselves and their grandchildren.
For example, many grandparents did not complete high school and may not
have the education to be able to assist their grandchildren with homework 3. Thus, as
students, grandchildren being raised by grandparents are at a disadvantage with
their classmates. Further,
grandparents may not feel welcome at school events, as schools often fail to recognize
them as the persons responsible for school contacts and permissions 14.
Ideas about "good
parenting" have also changed, yet parenting education is targeted toward
first-time parents. Also, children
behave differently and have a different set of norms than earlier generations.
Grandparents find that they cannot raise their grandchildren the same way they
raised their own children, yet they lack guidance on these changes. Some grandparents fear what they
perceive as higher levels of aggression among today's children 15. Finally,
given age and health concerns, many grandparents fear not being physically able
to provide a "normal" family life for grandchildren, for example, being able to
participate in sports or other activities like the parents of other
children. The ultimate fear is
that they will not survive long enough to be able to guide the child into
adulthood.
Helping grandchildren
cope. Grandchildren themselves face a number
of issues when coming to live with grandparents. First, these children must deal with the loss of a parent
and a disruption in the home environment.
Many experience grief, anger and depression from these disruptions and
may need counseling to help make the adjustment. Second, many come from environments of abuse or neglect and
may experience long-term mental and physical health problems requiring
treatment. Higher rates of ADD,
learning, and behavioral disorders have been reported for children in kinship
care 14. Socially,
many children may experience discomfort or alienation from their peers for not
having a "normal" family.
Grandchildren may also struggle academically, and benefit from tutoring
or other forms of academic assistance.
School programs that raise awareness of teachers and school staff and
assist grandparents and grandchildren with their needs may be important for
both academic and social success.
Research
on Grandparents Raising Grandchildren in Rural and Frontier Communities
As a relatively new area
of concern, research on grandparents raising grandchildren is limited. From a population perspective, more
research is needed on specific groups and subgroups. Because most grandparenting research focuses on
grandmothers, who are the majority of grandparent caregivers, the role of
grandfathers as both primary and secondary caregivers has been neglected. And, because of their high rates of
grandparenting, further research on Native American populations is needed.
From a place-based perspective, little is known about
custodial grandparenting in frontier and rural contexts. Strategies to assist grandparents in
urban areas are unlikely to meet the needs of rural grandparents. For example, in a study of grandmothers
who were raising grandchildren in rural North Carolina, researchers reported
that most were unaware of existing support groups and other services available
to them. Among those who were aware,
none had sought out the available support and assistance 15.
A study conducted by the
Center for Rural Health at the University of North Dakota compared caregiving
among American Indians in five reservation populations with the rest of the
state population to identify support needs, patterns of service use, and assess
barriers to support services 12. Overall,
higher rates of grandparenting, as well as a higher average number of children
being cared for by a grandparent, were observed for the reservation populations
than for the rest of the state.
Among both populations, a majority (60%) reported no source of financial
support to the child. More
reservation grandparents held full-time employment (40%) compared with the
statewide population (26%), yet the percentage of grandparents with incomes
below $20,000 was higher among reservation residents (57%) than statewide
residents (38%). Less than half of
the reservation grandparents reported other caregivers in the household (45%) compared
with the general population (67%).
Similarly, fewer reservation grandparents reported support from family
outside the household (32%) than the general population (43%). With the exception of medical
assistance, reservation respondents reported less access to child services such
as counseling, tutoring, and special education. For both groups, however, the two issues of greatest concern
were difficulty accepting support and difficulty finding support.
One study is underway at
Montana State University-Bozeman (MSU) to examine grandparenting in isolated
rural communities. Sandra Bailey
of the Department of Health and Human Development and MSU-Extension Family
& Human Development Specialist is researching parenting role stress on
grandparents and how it affects wellbeing. Another objective of the research is to determine to what
extent support groups reach grandparents in Montana's frontier communities, and
how well these groups meet the needs of frontier grandparents.
For grandparents who
need information on legal, health, counseling, educational, and childcare
services, as well as assistance in navigating federal and state assistance
programs, simply getting information is the first hurdle. Ideally, grandparents would be able to
seek advice tailored to their situation and needs, all within a single
assistance center 15. Studies repeatedly show that most grandparents do not take
advantage of existing services and support programs. More research is needed to find effective information
channels to reach rural and frontier grandparents, to understand their fears
and obstacles to using available services, and to design services that are
accessible and acceptable.
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