Grandparents raising grandchildren: Parenting a second time around or twice at the same time?

• In Event: 2266 - Family Section Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: 2. Coresidential Grandparents

Abstract

Background: Research shows that grandparents raising grandchildren, disproportionately likely to be of racial-ethnic minority background, have poorer economic standing and decreased well-being relative to parents in other family households. Yet, little research inquires into how these households come about or the role of household formation pathways in shaping household well-being. Objective: This study aims to uncover and contextualize the processes that lead to the formation of skipped generation households. Participants and Setting: Narrative, in-depth interviews were conducted with 25 grandmothers who were raising or had raised grandchildren in Central Florida. In addition, participant and non-participant observation was conducted at two non-profit organizations serving grandparents raising grandchildren. Methods: Interpretive analytic strategies were used to identify themes and processes in interview transcripts and field notes. Results: Prior to raising grandchildren, grandmothers’ care roles varied. Paths to raising grandchildren varied based on which persons and systems participated in negotiations around grandmothers’ transition into (and parents’ transition out of) primary caregiving, and how eventful these negotiations were. Some households formed following formal system (e.g., child welfare) intervention or a parent’s explicit request for care. Other households evolved out of fluid care relationships, with a transition identifiable only in retrospect. Still others came about rather effortfully, with the household status crystallizing over time as grandmothers deployed care strategies in response to parental adversities and through interaction with family members and family-facing systems. Conclusions: This study reveals diverse pathways to raising grandchildren, shaped by the interfacing of grandmothers’ formal and informal networks over time. In keeping with the conference theme, it details not only how wellbeing is lost, but also how grandmothers work to bring wellbeing about even where it is not best supported. In doing so, this study points to the potential impacts of systems and policies more cognizant of families’ own meanings and practices.

Authors

• Julia M. Arroyo, University of Florida

• Barbara Zsembik, University of Florida