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Grandparental childcare, health and well-being in Europe: A within-individual investigation of longitudinal data

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  • Danielsbacka, Mirkka
  • Tanskanen, Antti O.
  • Coall, David A.
  • Jokela, Markus

Abstract

Previous studies suggest grandparental childcare is associated with improved health and well-being of grandparents but limited information on the causal nature of this association exists. Here, we use the longitudinal Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) of people aged 50 and above across 11 countries including follow-up waves between 2004 and 2015 (n = 41,713 person-observations from 24,787 unique persons of whom 11,102 had two or more measurement times). Between-person and within-person (or fixed-effect) regressions were applied, where between-person models show associations across participants and within-person models focus on each participant's variation over time. Health and well-being were measured according to self-rated health, difficulties with activities of daily living (ADLs), depressive symptoms, life satisfaction and meaning of life scores. Across all analyses, childcare assistance provided by older adults to their adult children, was associated with increased health and well-being of grandparents. However, these associations were almost completely due to between-person differences and did not hold in within-person analyses that compared the same participants over time. Fewer ADL limitations for grandparents who provided childcare assistance was the only association that remained in the within-individual analyses. These findings suggest that there might be only limited causal association between grandchild care and grandparental well-being and that it may be specific to physical rather than cognitive factors. The results are discussed with regard to evolutionary psychology assumptions of altruistic behavior and positive health outcomes for the helper.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:230:y:2019:i:c:p:194-203
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.03.031
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Peter Eibich & Xianhua Zai, 2022. "Are the grandparents alright? The health consequences of grandparental childcare provision," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2022-023, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    2. Kaufmann, Katja Maria & Özdemir, Yasemin & Ye, Han, 2022. "Spillover Effects of Old-Age Pension across Generations: Family Labor Supply and Child Outcomes," IZA Discussion Papers 15388, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. repec:zbw:bofitp:2020_018 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. 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.
    5. Charalampos Dantis & Ester Lucia Rizzi & Thomas Baudin, 2023. "The Association between Religiosity and Fertility Intentions Via Grandparenting: Evidence from GGS Data," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 39(1), pages 1-24, December.
    6. 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 Emerging Economies (BOFIT).
    7. Barschkett, Mara & Spieß, C. Katharina & Ziege, Elena, 2021. "Does Grandparenting Pay off for the Next Generations? Intergenerational Effects of Grandparental Care," IZA Discussion Papers 14795, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. 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.
    9. 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).
    10. Barschkett, Mara & Spieß, C. Katharina & Ziege, Elena, 2021. "Intergenerational Effects of Grandparental Care on Children and Parents," VfS Annual Conference 2021 (Virtual Conference): Climate Economics 242397, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    11. Lin, Mengyun & Wang, Qing, 2019. "Center-based childcare expansion and grandparents' employment and well-being," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 240(C).
    12. Lydia G. Emm-Collison & Sarah Lewis & Thomas Reid & Joe Matthews & Simon J. Sebire & Janice L. Thompson & Russell Jago, 2019. "Physical Activity during the School Holidays: Parent Perceptions and Practical Considerations," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-14, May.

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