Grandparents and Grandchildren

Here are highlights of a published paper commissioned by the Vanier Institute of the Family. A link to the report can be found on the bottom of the page.

Many older Canadians (76% of those aged 65 and older) have grandchildren, and most have more than one. Among older Canadians who have children, almost all (90%) also have grandchildren.

First-time grandparenthood is a mid-life event, not an event of later life. Canadian couples typically become grandparents in their late 40s or early 50s.

Today’s grandparents live longer and experience a longer duration of grandparenthood than ever before. Many grandparents live into their grandchildren’s adulthood.

The majority of grandparents have regular contact with their grandchildren.

When grandchildren are young, contact between grandparents and grandchildren is mediated by the middle generation. Canadian studies have found that between two-thirds and three-quarters of older people who have children see a child at least once a week. Most of these see their young grandchildren as well.

A national survey of Canadians aged 15 and older found that among Canadians with a grandparent still alive, almost 40% saw their grandparent more than once a month.

Grandparents participate in various types of activities with their grandchildren and are resources to them in both material and nonmaterial ways. Grandparents bestow gifts, serve as babysitters, pass down history, traditions, family and social values, and act as confidants and role models.

Grandparents may also provide support to their grandchildren indirectly. By offering emotional or material support to adult children, grandparents may reduce the overall stress in the family, thereby influencing the well-being of their grandchildren.

Studies of grandparent-grandchild relationships report that most grandparents have positive feelings towards their grandchildren, although they often have a special grandchild to whom they feel particularly close.

Several factors have an impact on emotional closeness and on the interaction between grandparents and grandchildren. These factors include: geographic proximity, gender, whether the grandparent is a maternal or paternal grandparent, age, lifestage, and timing of grandparenthood, marital and employment status, race and ethnicity, grandparents’ relationships with their own grandparents, and health and functional status.

Since the 1980s, there has been an increasing number of grandparents who have taken on a parental role with their grandchildren. Reasons include an increase in alcohol and drug abuse, divorce, teen pregnancy, incarceration and the AIDS epidemic in the middle generation.

Society has provided grandparents with few guidelines as to how to position themselves in various family situations. There are few books or courses available to help grandparents develop a sense of competency in their role.

The right of grandparents to have contact with grandchildren has emerged as an issue when grandparents are denied access by their children or children-in-law. In Canada, several advocacy and self-help groups have been formed, including the GRAND (Grandparents Requesting Access and Dignity) Society, the Canadian Grandparent rights Association, and Orphaned Grandparents.

Click HERE to read "Contemporary Family Trends - Grandparenthood in Canada"