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Grandparents Caring for their Grandchildren

Findings From the 2004 Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe

University of Mannheim, and Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung Berlin, Germany

Isabella Buber

Vienna Institute of Demography, Austrian Academy of Sciences

Introducing findings from the 2004 Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), this research complements the large number of recent U.S. studies on the role of grandparents in caring for their grandchildren. For 10 continental European countries, the authors investigate cross-national variations in grandparent-provided child care as well as differences in characteristics of the providers and recipients of care. Although they find strong involvement of grandparents in their grandchildren's care across all countries, they also identify significant variations in the prevalence and intensity of care along the geographic lines of different child care and (maternal or female) employment regimes in Europe. Rooted in long-standing family cultures, the observed patterns suggest a complex interaction between welfare state—provided services and intergenerational family support in shaping the work—family nexus for younger parents. The authors conclude with a brief discussion of possible consequences of grandmothers' increasing labor force participation for child care arrangements.

Key Words: grandparents • grandchildren • child care • Europe • SHARE

This version was published on January 1, 2009

Journal of Family Issues, Vol. 30, No. 1, 53-73 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0192513X08322627


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