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Does grandchild care influence grandparents’ self-rated health? Evidence from a fixed effects approach

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  • Ates, Merih

Abstract

The present study aims to identify, whether and how supplementary grandchild care is causally related to grandparents' self-rated health (SRH). Based on longitudinal data drawn from the German Aging Survey (DEAS; 2008–2014), I compare the results of pooled OLS, pooled OLS with lagged dependant variables (POLS-LD), random and fixed effects (RE, FE) panel regression. The results show that there is a positive but small association between supplementary grandchild care and SRH in POLS, POLS-LD, and RE models. However, the fixed effects model shows that the intrapersonal change in grandchild care does not cause a change in grandparents' SRH. The FE findings indicate that supplementary grandchild care in Germany does not have a causal impact on grandparents' SRH, suggesting that models with between-variation components overestimate the influence of grandchild care on grandparents’ health because they do not control for unobserved (time-constant) heterogeneity.

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  • Ates, Merih, 2017. "Does grandchild care influence grandparents’ self-rated health? Evidence from a fixed effects approach," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 67-74.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:190:y:2017:i:c:p:67-74
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.08.021
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    Cited by:

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    2. Wang, Hao & Fidrmuc, Jan & Luo, Qi, 2020. "Grandparenting and well-being of the elderly in China," BOFIT Discussion Papers 18/2020, Bank of Finland, Institute for Economies in Transition.
    3. Hongwei Xu, 2022. "Grandparenting and Cognitive Functioning in China," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(1), pages 285-316, February.
    4. Lin, Mengyun & Wang, Qing, 2019. "Center-based childcare expansion and grandparents' employment and well-being," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 240(C).
    5. repec:zbw:bofitp:2020_018 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. 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.
    7. Mirkka Danielsbacka & Lenka Křenková & Antti O. Tanskanen, 2022. "Grandparenting, health, and well-being: a systematic literature review," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 341-368, September.
    8. Danielsbacka, Mirkka & Tanskanen, Antti O. & Coall, David A. & Jokela, Markus, 2019. "Grandparental childcare, health and well-being in Europe: A within-individual investigation of longitudinal data," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 230(C), pages 194-203.
    9. Bruno Arpino & Valeria Bordone & Nicoletta Balbo, 2018. "Grandparenting, education and subjective well-being of older Europeans," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 251-263, September.
    10. Qi Luo & Jan Fidrmuc & Hao Wang, 2020. "Grandparenting and Well-Being of the Elderly in China," Post-Print hal-03969508, HAL.
    11. Wang, Shuhong & Li, Shengxiao (Alex) & Hu, Wanyang, 2022. "Grandparenting and subjective well-being in China: The moderating effects of residential location, gender, age, and income," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 315(C).
    12. Shiming Liao & Ling Qi & Jie Xiong & Jie Yan & Ruoxi Wang, 2020. "Intergenerational Ties in Context: Association between Caring for Grandchildren and Cognitive Function in Middle-Aged and Older Chinese," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(1), pages 1-18, December.
    13. Ellwardt, Lea & Hank, Karsten & Mendes de Leon, Carlos F., 2021. "Grandparenthood and risk of mortality: Findings from the Health and Retirement Study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 268(C).
    14. Alfred K. Mukong & Ernest N. Tingum, 2018. "The Demand for Cigarettes: New Evidence from South Africa," Working Papers 745, Economic Research Southern Africa.

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