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Journal of Family Issues
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Contact Between Grandchildren and Their Grandparents in Early Adulthood

Teun Geurts

VU University Amsterdam, Netherlands, t.geurts{at}fsw.vu.nl

Anne-Rigt Poortman

Utrecht University, Netherlands

Theo van Tilburg

VU University Amsterdam, Netherlands

Pearl A. Dykstra

Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute, The Hague; and Utrecht University, Netherlands

Using cross-sectional data from the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study (N = 1,231), this study examines the relationship between grandchildren and their grandparents across early adulthood. Age is used as a proxy for change during the grandchild’s life course and the influence of major life course characteristics is examined. Results indicate that the majority of young adult grandchildren have contact with their grandparents, but the average frequency is low. Age differences in contact frequency suggest a decline in grandparent—grandchild contact across early adulthood. Multilevel analyses show that grandchildren’s employment status, partner, and parenthood status do not affect contact frequency with grandparents. Rather, the results point at the importance of the parental home for facilitating grandparent—grandchild contact as age-related differences are accounted for by whether grandchildren left the parental home. Furthermore, most of the variance in grandparent—grandchild contact is attributable to differences between family of the mother’s and family of the father’s side.

Key Words: adult grandchildren • grandparents • contact • life course

This version was published on December 1, 2009

Journal of Family Issues, Vol. 30, No. 12, 1698-1713 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0192513X09336340
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