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Healthy Grandparenthood: How Long Is It, and How Has It Changed?

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  • Rachel Margolis

    (University of Western Ontario)

  • Laura Wright

    (University of Saskatchewan)

Abstract

Healthy grandparenthood represents the period of overlap during which grandparents and grandchildren can build relationships, and grandparents can make intergenerational transfers to younger kin. The health of grandparents has important implications for upward and downward intergenerational transfers within kinship networks in aging societies. Although the length of grandparenthood is determined by fertility and mortality patterns, the amount of time spent as a healthy grandparent is also affected by morbidity. In this study, we estimate the length of healthy grandparenthood for the first time. Using U.S. and Canadian data, we examine changes in the length of healthy grandparenthood during years when grandparenthood was postponed, health improved, and mortality declined. We also examine variation in healthy grandparenthood by education and race/ethnicity within the United States. Our findings show that the period of healthy grandparenthood is becoming longer because of improvements in health and mortality, which more than offset delays in grandparenthood. Important variation exists within the United States by race/ethnicity and education, which has important implications for family relationships and transfers.

Suggested Citation

  • Rachel Margolis & Laura Wright, 2017. "Healthy Grandparenthood: How Long Is It, and How Has It Changed?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 54(6), pages 2073-2099, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:demogr:v:54:y:2017:i:6:d:10.1007_s13524-017-0620-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s13524-017-0620-0
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    1. Karen Glaser & Karsten Hank, 2018. "Grandparenthood in Europe," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 221-223, September.
    2. Natasha V. Pilkauskas & Mariana Amorim & Rachel E. Dunifon, 2020. "Historical Trends in Children Living in Multigenerational Households in the United States: 1870–2018," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(6), pages 2269-2296, December.
    3. Rachel Margolis & Ashton M. Verdery, 2019. "A Cohort Perspective on the Demography of Grandparenthood: Past, Present, and Future Changes in Race and Sex Disparities in the United States," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(4), pages 1495-1518, August.
    4. Karsten Hank & Giulia Cavrini & Giorgio Gessa & Cecilia Tomassini, 2018. "What do we know about grandparents? Insights from current quantitative data and identification of future data needs," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 225-235, September.
    5. Ariane Ophir & Jessica Polos, 2022. "Care Life Expectancy: Gender and Unpaid Work in the Context of Population Aging," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(1), pages 197-227, February.
    6. Leimer, Birgit & van Ewijk, Reyn, 2022. "Are grandchildren good for you? Well-being and health effects of becoming a grandparent," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 313(C).
    7. Diego Alburez-Gutierrez & Carl Mason & Emilio Zagheni, 2020. "The “Sandwich Generation” revisited: global demographic drivers of care time demands," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2020-037, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    8. Judith A. Seltzer, 2019. "Family Change and Changing Family Demography," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(2), pages 405-426, April.
    9. Roberta Rutigliano, 2020. "Counting on Potential Grandparents? Adult Children’s Entry Into Parenthood Across European Countries," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(4), pages 1393-1414, August.
    10. Natasha V. Pilkauskas & Christina Cross, 2018. "Beyond the Nuclear Family: Trends in Children Living in Shared Households," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(6), pages 2283-2297, December.
    11. Simon N Chapman & Jenni E Pettay & Mirkka Lahdenperä & Virpi Lummaa, 2018. "Grandmotherhood across the demographic transition," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(7), pages 1-17, July.
    12. Bruno Arpino & Jordi Gumà & Albert Julià, 2018. "Family histories and the demography of grandparenthood," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 39(42), pages 1105-1150.
    13. Giorgio Di Gessa & Baowen Xue & Rebecca Lacey & Anne McMunn, 2022. "Young Adult Carers in the UK—New Evidence from the UK Household Longitudinal Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-13, October.

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