A grandparent is born every time a child is born.1 The difference is that while the child's birth is recorded, rarely is the birth of a grandparent. And grandparents are reborn over and over again at the birth of each of their grandchildren.
It is interesting to reflect on the fact that it takes three generations for a grandparent to exist2 and when that happens it is because others have undergone life changes. This counter transition occurs more often now as increased longevity has led to ongoing intergenerational role transitions in our contemporary society with many grandchildren having live great-grandparents and even great-great-grandparents.
Grandparenting is not something that is necessarily chosen - no conscious action has to be taken to become a grandparent or a grandchild. That is why the link between grandchildren and grandparents is sometimes referred to as a Gift.3 Today many grandparents are also more likely to experience their grandchildren as adults and researchers have found accounts of strong and personally important grandparent relationships in reports from older grandchildren.3
In terms of life's course, there is an expectation that modern grandparenting will come at a time when individuals are freed from the commitment of parenting young children and are therefore older. Hagestad and Burton point out that in research there has been a tendency to take a static view of grandparenting in terms of time and age. But this ignores the way in which grandparenting takes place within the shifting network of relationships which make up any society. For example, today as we live longer, grandparents are healthier and more energetic compared to the grandparents of past generations.2 Of course, there are some individuals who are made grandparents much earlier than expected and in Hagestad and Burton's study, this group were not as welcoming of the role as it was not 'at the right time' in terms of life transition.2
Early anthropological investigations found that among 51 societies for which data are available, the roles of grandparents differed cross-culturally.4 In societies where grandparents were removed from family authority their relationships with grandchildren were more indulgent and warm than in societies in which economic power and prestige rested with the old. In the latter societies the relationships between grandparents and grandchildren were formal and even authoritarian, a position that many grandparents today experience with their own grandparents. Much later studies have identified family life stage, gender, marital status, geographical place, ethnicity and education as the main variables in terms of the ways in which grandparents and grandchildren interact.5
Of course, family relationships play an important role in the way grandparenting is discharged - additionally the concept of the family has changed dramatically over the last two decades. Social variations such as an increase of women working full-time, an increase in divorce and more parents opting not to marry have led to a situation where many children do not live with both biological parents and many family units have only one adult.6 The trend towards grandparents raising their grandchildren has become the focus of contemporary studies and lobbying, although there is a high probability that grandparents have always played a large part in the raising of their grandchildren, particularly in non-Anglo cultures.
When both parents are in the paid workforce there is a greater likelihood that grandparents will be the providers of child care and in the UK; research shows that up to 50% of working parents rely on grandparents to provide a certain amount of care and support.7 In the USA between 1980 and 1990 there was a 44% increase in the number of grandchildren not only being cared for but living with their grandparents or other relatives. And the 2000 United States Census revealed a 78% increase over the past decade. This is mainly in the inner cities due to the consequences of drug abuse, teen pregnancy, HIV/AIDS and violence.7 In Australia there has also been an increase in grandparent-headed families8 resulting in a rising number of children cared for full-time by their grandparents.9
When grandparents become full-time carers of their grandchildren as a result of breakdown in the parenting roles, then there is a concomitant shift in terms of the role itself. In Australia the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) shows that 1% of families have grandparents as the primary carers.8 In this population, half of the grandparents are single themselves with 62% dependent on government benefits. This means that some of these children are financially disadvantaged, with many already emotionally and developmentally disadvantaged due to neglect or abuse by their parents. The health of this population of grandparents has been shown to be poorer, with more individuals depressed, tired and at greater risk of coronary heart disease as they struggle to raise their grandchildren with limited support.10 There is also the issue of social isolation as friends their age are pursuing retirement activities, having left full-time parenting behind.
While research into grandparenting has been increasing there has been limited research on grandchildren and their experiences of their grandparents. Kennedy's study showed that grandchildren tended to feel closer to their mother's parents than to their father's parents and that they perceived their grandparents as loving, helping and comforting and as role models who are important in their lives.11 The 2008 Longitudinal Study of Australian Children found that children between 19 months and 3 years of age who were cared for by family and friends scored better on most learning tests. The study also showed that the role grandparents played was important in terms of cognitive, physical and social development.6
So what is the impact of this relationship on the lives of grandparents as they make up a significant percentage of our ageing society? The increased longevity of the Australian population has encouraged researchers and organisations to focus on the best ways of maintaining healthy ageing across all areas of society including the workplace, accommodation and retirement. This is not only about improving the health of those with a chronic illness but also about how to maintain the quality of the lives of those who are ageing but remain well and independent.
Studies into the contribution of grandparenting to the well-being of the elderly have demonstrated the role to be significant and emotionally fulfilling for many.12 Drew and Silverstein assert that given the importance of intergenerational roles to self-concept, 'a global construct of family role enactment has consequences for positive well being'.13 Reitzes and Mutran's study into grandparent identity, intergenerational family identity and well-being showed that 'men and women are more positive about their grandparent identities than they are about other adult identity meanings'.14 Concluding their research paper they recommend activities that bring grandchildren and grandparents together as vital given the strong positive effect on the well-being and mental health of grandparents.14
The involvement of grandchildren in the lives of those who are ageing can be mutually satisfying and 'offer opportunities for emotional integration rather than self absorption in their later life development'15 in terms of the ageing individual. Difficult relationships with parents can however alter relationships with grandparents and can occur following a breakdown of the parents' relationship. In Australia however it has been shown that only 2.9% of preschoolers and 2.6% of 4- to 5-year-olds have no face-to-face contact with at least one grandparent.7
Research into intergenerational roles and psychological well-being shows that the strength of role investment declines with lineage distance, with the parental role investment most highly associated with well-being, followed by investment in grandparent and great-grandparent roles.13 Robertson's research found that the majority of grandmothers actively enjoy the role of grandparenting and some even enjoy the role more than parenting as it is pleasurable, without the responsibility of parenting.16 While research on grandfathers has been limited, Kivett's 1985 study of 99 grandfathers in a rural US area showed that the grandfathers' role was one of low levels of interaction.17 There was, however, a high expectation by older men that grandchildren would provide assistance to them when required. Matthews and Sprey's study of late adolescents reinforced this difference in their relationships with their grandmothers and grandfathers, although access during childhood was an important influence in this area.18
Ronald Lee, a professor of demography at University of Central Florida (UCF), proposed that 'doting grandparents are significant contributors to the longevity and long term survival of the human race by not only their own offspring but grandchildren, as well'.19 Lee bases this on his research of 10 000 years of primates, which showed that the gender that provided the primary care in a society tended to live longer. His 'grandmother hypothesis' is that women experience menopause so that they are freed up to care for grandchildren. According to a Harvard study, the downside to this for women caring for grandchildren for more than 9 h a week is an increase in the risk of heart disease, if they have limited finances.20
Grandparent's Day in the USA was established in 1978 as a separate and distinct holiday held on the Sunday after Labor Day in September. It 'identifies grandparents as an important emotional resource for families, reinforces the public's consciousness of the vital connection between grandparents and grandchildren and lends credibility to the value of elders in our society'.21 In Australia there is no national day; however, in 2002 the Governor of Victoria launched Grandparents Victoria as an association working to shape a positive future for children and grandchildren. In August 2008 the Grandparents Network was launched, which caters to the 40% of people aged over 65 who are taking up the internet at home.
In 1998, Age Concern England initiated the Millennium Debate of the Age, which aimed to influence public policy on ageing in the new millennium.22 The five policy areas that were addressed included health and care, paying for age, the built environment, values and attitudes, and work and lifestyles. Given the emerging critique of the biomedical model of health, which so often ignores the social model through insisting on 'the primacy of the "expert" over lay knowledge',22 researchers simultaneously conducted focus groups in order to find the 'meanings embedded in ordinary discourse'.22 This involved hearing from individuals aged between 40 and 80 years of age.
While the Millennium Debate of the Age paper on Health and Care adopted a biomedical health model, the focus group discussions illuminated the relationship between ageing and health as having more to do with individuals being able to continue to be actively involved in life. Being mentally and physically active means being 'part of the living process'.22 This is very much reflective of the new public health paradigm, which is focused on social integration and interaction. This has relevance for all decision-makers including those involved in planning cities, transport and housing. Thus health and social capital are integrally linked in terms of ensuring healthy ageing.
In his overview of 25 years of social trends in Italy, Robert Putnam concluded that low social capital reserves lead to impoverished communities.23 Social capital is dependent on social cohesion beginning with the basic social unit of the family. When families teach trust and respect, then they produce citizens who are engaged, thus generating rich social networks within communities. The positive benefits for children in such an environment have been shown to include 'positive mental health and behavioural outcomes as well as reduced school dropout rates and an increased likelihood of gaining meaningful employment'24 strengthening families through extended support such as involved grandparents assists in effecting strong social capital, an issue that has been overlooked during the era in which financial strength has been the focus of society.
As we face a future in which violence and individualism appear to be on the increase, along with the costs associated with an ageing society, it is essential that we strengthen our social networks in ways that nurture and engage individuals of all ages and stages of life. Grandparents - in supporting the primary social construct of families - not only strengthen the development of the children physically, emotionally and socially, they also free up parents to continue their bonding as a couple. Synergistically, the self-esteem of grandparents is enhanced through meaningful contributions that provide emotional fulfilment and improved quality of life to the increasing numbers of elderly in our society. Strengthening mutually rewarding relationships across families at a primary level of society strengthens social cohesion as individuals across all ages and stages are reinforced as contributing to a better world.
One of the ways to acknowledge and strengthen the contribution made by grandparents to our contemporary society is to raise awareness of the worth of such care. Professor Bettina Cass from the Social Policy Research Centre at the University of New South Wales argues that rather than merely measuring care as a commodity, public policies should consider the reciprocal worth and value involved in a caring relationship and reward it appropriately.25 Given the increasing number of grandparents involved in informal care in Australia it is timely for society to recognise the worth of such care in terms of its contribution to creating healthier lives.
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