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Trends in the prevalence of grandparents living with grandchild(ren) in selected European countries and the United States

Author

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  • Karen Glaser

    (King’s College London)

  • Rachel Stuchbury

    (University College London)

  • Debora Price

    (University of Manchester)

  • Giorgio Gessa

    (King’s College London)

  • Eloi Ribe

    (King’s College London)

  • Anthea Tinker

    (King’s College London)

Abstract

Research from the United States has shown significant increases in the prevalence of three-generation households and in households consisting solely of grandparents and grandchildren. Such shifts in household composition, which are associated with socio-economic disadvantage, may reflect the activation of grandparents as a latent network of support in response to social and demographic changes such as rising partnership disruption. However, to date, little is known in Europe about trends in grandparent households or whether these households are also likely to be disadvantaged. Moreover, we know little about how the familistic and defamilised policy environments in Europe may affect the activation of such latent kin networks. Employing the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series—International and the Office for National Statistics’ Longitudinal Study for England and Wales, we used multivariate techniques to investigate changes in prevalence over time in co-residence with a grandchild across Austria, England and Wales, France, Greece, Portugal, Romania, and the United States. We expected increases in grandparent households in Portugal and Greece, familistic societies with few public alternatives to family support. However, only Romania (like the US) showed an increase in the percentage of people aged 40 and over co-residing with their grandchildren in three-generation households between the late 1970s and 2002. Given rises in poverty and limited support for low-income families in Romania, rises in grandparent coresidence may reflect a coping strategy among poorer families to increasing financial hardship. Regardless of the trends, grandparent households in all the countries studied remained associated with socio-economic disadvantage.

Suggested Citation

  • Karen Glaser & Rachel Stuchbury & Debora Price & Giorgio Gessa & Eloi Ribe & Anthea Tinker, 2018. "Trends in the prevalence of grandparents living with grandchild(ren) in selected European countries and the United States," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 237-250, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:eujoag:v:15:y:2018:i:3:d:10.1007_s10433-018-0474-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s10433-018-0474-3
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Karen Glaser & Karsten Hank, 2018. "Grandparenthood in Europe," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 221-223, September.
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    4. Debasree Das Gupta & David W. S. Wong, 2023. "Age-Dependent Differences in Frequent Mental Distress (FMD) of US Older Adults Living in Multigenerational Families versus Living Alone," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-14, February.
    5. Sevias Guvuriro & Frederik Booysen, 2020. "Intra-household cooperation and inter-generational communication in the extended family: a field experiment in a poor urban community in Africa," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 635-653, September.
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    7. Andrea Salustri & Valeria De Bonis & Maria Alessandra Antonelli & Angelo Castaldo, 2023. "Poverty and social exclusion: which relationship with non-traditional household models?," Public Finance Research Papers 58, Istituto di Economia e Finanza, DSGE, Sapienza University of Rome.
    8. Anna Bartczak & Wiktor Budziński & Susan Chilton & Rebecca McDonald & Jytte Seested Nielsen, 2021. "Altruism and efficient allocations in three-generation households," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 62(2), pages 113-135, April.
    9. Maša Filipovič Hrast & Valentina Hlebec & Tatjana Rakar, 2020. "Sustainable Care in a Familialist Regime: Coping with Elderly Care in Slovenia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-15, October.
    10. Jan E. Mutchler & Nidya Velasco Roldán, 2023. "Economic Resources Shaping Grandparent Responsibility Within Three-Generation Households," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 44(2), pages 461-472, June.
    11. Pasqualini, Marta & di Gessa, Giorgio & Tomassini, Cecilia, 2021. "A Change is (not) Gonna Come: A twenty-year overview of Italian grandparents-grandchildren exchanges," SocArXiv 8wgux, Center for Open Science.
    12. Jing Zhang & Zongye Cai & Huamin Peng & Tom Emery, 2022. "Early Childhood Care Trends and Associations with Child Health Well-being in China: Evidence from the CHNS 1991 to 2011 Data," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(5), pages 2789-2807, October.
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