How many grandparents are there today in the U.S.?
- According to Age Wave Communications, a California-based company that tracks the mature market, there are 69 million U.S. grandparents in the year 2000. That number is projected to grow to 72 million by the year 2005 and to 80 million in the year 2010.
- According to a study by AARP, 60 million U.S. adults are grandparents, representing one-third of the adult U.S. population.
How often do grandparents interact with their grandchildren?
In 1998, AARP surveyed more than 800 grandparents in the U.S. age 50 and over and learned:
82 percent had seen their grandchild in the last month
85 percent had talked on the phone with their grandchild in the last month
72 percent had shared at least one meal with their grandchild in the last month
Of grandparents who are not caregivers and who do not live in the same household as grandchildren:
44 percent see a grandchild every week
31 percent see or speak by phone to a grandchild weekly
Slightly over one in 10 grandparents (12 percent) have little contact with a grandchild, seeing or talking on the phone with them every few months or less.
How many grandparents are caregivers?
AARP found that 11 percent of grandparents over 50 are caregivers. Specifically:
8 percent are providing day care on a regular basis
3 percent are raising a grandchild
What activities do grandparents do with their grandchildren?
According to the AARP survey, the top five activities grandparents say they do with their grandchildren are:
Eating together (either in or out)
Watching a TV comedy
Staying overnight
Shopping for clothes
Engaging in exercise/sports
How do grandparents view their role?
"The most common role [grandparents] want to play in the life of a grandchild is that of companion or friend. We're also advisers, family historians, storytellers ... and confidants." [Modern Maturity, March/April 2000]. Specifically:
49 percent of those surveyed said they often serve as a companion/friend
35 percent said they often give advice
33 percent talk about family history
36 percent explain what their parent did as a child
34 percent said they serve as a confidant
How much money do grandparents spend on grandchildren?
Again, citing the AARP survey: "The median amount spent by individual grandparents on their grandchildren is $489 per year," or about $30 billion annually.
Lower-income grandparents (less than $25,000 per year) spend $239 on their grandchildren.
Grandparents with only one grandchild spend about $500. Spending per child drops to about $200 when the total number of grandchildren reaches three.
The AARP study was conducted by telephone for AARP by ICR Survey Research Group of Media, PA. The sample included 823 grandparents age 50 years and older who were interviewed between Sept. 28 and Oct. 25, 1998. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.5 percent. The AARP survey is summarized and detailed at: http://www.aarp.org/press/presskits/gparent
MORE DETAIL ON GRANDPARENTS RAISING GRANDCHILDREN
How many grandparents are raising grandchildren? According to statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau's 1997 report, nearly 4.7 million grandparents lived with their grandchildren in 1996. Seventynine percent of these maintained the household in which their grandchildren lived, and the rest lived with their children and grandchildren.
Of the grandparents who maintained homes in which their grandchildren
lived:
15 percent of grandmothers and 21 percent of grandfathers were 65 years of age or older
72 percent of grandfathers and 56 percent of grandmothers were employed in 1996
36 percent were in very good or excellent health
Of the grandparents who lived in homes their children maintained:
50 percent of grandmothers and 56 percent of grandfathers were 65 and older
33 percent of grandfathers and 4 percent of grandmothers were employed in 1996
27 percent were reported to be in very good or excellent health
