Purpose: Continued employment after retirement and engagement in unpaid work are both important ways of diminishing the negative economic effects of the retirement of baby boomer cohorts on society. Little research, however, examines the relationship between paid and unpaid work at the transition from full-time work. Using a resource perspective…

Purpose: Transitions in caregiving, such as becoming a primary caregiver to grandchildren or having adult children and grandchildren move in or out, may affect the well-being of the grandmother. Design and Methods: This report describes caregiving patterns at 3 time points over 24 months in a sample of 485 Ohio grandmothers and examines the…

Addresses well-being of grandmothers raising grandchildren in coparenting and custodial households in a sample of African American, Latino, and White grandmothers. Results suggest that the cultural lens through which grandparenthood is viewed has a marked impact on the adaptation to custodial or coparenting family structures. (Contains 52…

Interviewed 37 grandparent couples with or without divorced children about their relationships with their families. Neither group was well informed about their children's marriages. Custody of the grandchildren affected contact with former in-law children and relationships with grandchildren. (JAC)

Contrasts the experiences of 398 White and 319 Black grandmothers raising their grandchildren. Similarities include age, education, familial relationship to the grandchild, age of grandchild, and impacts on the grandmother's work life. Differences include marital status, work status, and income. White grandmothers experienced more burden from…

Conducted 40-month longitudinal study following role of grandmothers in 43 families during divorce processes of their children. Found most women provided major assistance to children and grandchildren, with younger grandmothers more active. Analysis of their expectations indicated women became more ambivalent and dissatisfied if they were forced…

The determinants of frequent and infrequent visiting between grandparents and grandchildren are examined in national survey data. Six significant predictors of frequency of contact are geographic distance, quality of relationship between grandparent and parent, number of grandchild sets, gender of grandparent, lineage of the grandchild set, and…

Interviewed great-grandparents (N=40) about the meaning and significance of great-grandparenthood. Results indicated most found the role to be significant and emotionally fulfilling, providing a sense of personal and familial renewal, diversion to their lives, and a mark of longevity. Found two styles of great-grandparenthood: remote and close.…

Uses data from grandmothers with daughters in prison to illustrate need to transcend "either-or" arguments around age as master status; highlight absence of middle generation in growing number of families; and question anti-family premises of generational equity debate. Concludes with recommendations for how researchers and advocates could enhance…

Brookdale Grandparent Caregiver Information Project tracked 124 community interventions/service programs for grandparents raising grandchildren. Found that, among programs, lack of funding and institutional support, and the consequent inability to provide child care, were among key obstacles faced, whereas while sponsorship by health and social…

Focuses on the effects divorces of children have on the kinship networks of the older generation. Found a common source of expansion among paternal grandmothers who retained relationships with their former daughters-in-law and her relatives at the same time that they added new relatives with sons' remarriages. (Author/ABB)

Questioned 80 grandmothers about interaction with grandchildren before and after the divorce of a child. Found that following divorce, grandmothers thought that their contact with grandchildren increased, as did time spent babysitting, teaching family history, and offering advice on personal problems. Geographic proximity and custodial status of…

Utilizes the National Survey of Families and Households to present a demographic profile of grandparents. Examines grandparents' survival, timing of grandparenthood, grandparents' involvement in other roles, surrogate parenting, and stepgrandparents. Data indicate considerable heterogeneity among grandparents of different genders and ethnicities.…

This paper deals with a social myth--the widely-held belief that in contemporary American society old people are alienated from their families, particularly from their children. Evidence to support this belief is sparse. (Author)

Explored the meaning of grandparenthood to grandparents, the importance of grandparenthood across the life cycle, and the relationship between grandparenthood and mental health. Derived five dimensions of grandparenthood meaning: (1) centrality, (2) valued elder, (3) immortality through clan, (4) reinvolvement with personal past, and (5) spoil.…