The Gerontologist, Vol 37, Issue 3 406-411, Copyright © 1997 by The Gerontological Society of America

ARTICLES

A profile of grandparents raising grandchildren in the United States

E Fuller-Thomson, M Minkler and D Driver
Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto, Canada. [email protected]

This article examines the prevalence of grandparent caregiving in the U.S. and presents a national profile of grandparent caregivers based on current data from the national Survey of Families and Households. More than one in ten grandparents are found to have cared for a grandchild for at least 6 months, with most of these having engaged in a far longer-term commitment. Although custodial grandparenting cuts across gender, class, and ethnic lines, single women, African Americans, and low income persons are disproportionately represented. Multivariate logistic analysis indicates that three groups--women, recently bereaved parents, and African Americans--have approximately twice the odds of becoming caregiving grandparents. Implications for further research, policy, and practice are discussed.

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