The Importance of Grandparents
The importance of grandparents in the lives of children cannot be denied. Before our society became so mobile, it was common for children to grow up surrounded by extended family, including one or both sets of grandparents. Seniors often moved in with their adult children and young grandkids when they became frail.
My own childhood mirrored this now quaint picture of the past, and I’ve always felt happy about the fact that my children were involved with both sets of their grandparents as they grew up. Yet, even though my kids enjoyed weekly grandparent visits, they were already in the minority. Many of their friends rarely saw their own grandparents, who often lived hundreds (if not thousands) of miles away. But, even with the obstacle of distance, I heard many of these young children talk excitedly about seeing Grandma and Grandpa over holidays and whenever they could.
The Revival of In-Law Suites
In recent years—often because of economic issues—a reversal of this trend has caused a significant number of families to return to the idea of sharing responsibilities and, in some cases, living spaces.
According to a Pew Research Center Report, a record 60.6 million Americans, or 19 percent of the population of the United States, lived in multi-generational family households in 2014. That’s more than double the number of such households in 1980. Of course, the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the prevalence of multi-generational living throughout 2020 and 2021 as well. A report commissioned by Generations United found that 26 percent of Americans are currently living in a household with three or more generations.
Another type of grandparenting has quietly maintained a strong presence in our society: grandparents who have become surrogate parents to their grandchildren because, for one reason or another, the parents cannot fulfill such a role. In 2019, nearly 2.5 million grandparents were responsible for the care of their grandchildren. The influence of these…
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