The Demography of Grandparenthood: An International Profile (original) (raw)
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The Delay of Grandparenthood: A Cohort Comparison in East and West Germany
Journal of Marriage and Family
This research explored the delay of grandparenthood in East and West Germany, investigating how the timing and life-course context of this transition have changed across cohorts. The authors estimated the timing of passages into the grandparent role as well as demographic overlap with worker, parent, and filial roles. Data from the German Aging Survey (N = 3,628) revealed a rise of 3 months per birth cohort (1929–1958) in the median age at grandparenthood. As a result, the grandparent role decoupled almost entirely from active parenthood. Overlap with worker and filial roles was frequent and remained stable across cohorts. The findings direct attention to a neglected demographic trend that is striking in scope and precipitates change not only in the grandparent role but also in kinship structure.
The demography of grandparenthood: the role of family histories
2017
The role of grandparents is increasingly important in ageing countries. We use a life course approach aiming at assessing the association between individual family histories (partnership and fertility histories) and grandparenthood-related outcomes (being grandparent, number of grandchildren, having at least one young grandchild). We use retrospective data collected in the third wave of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), called SHARELIFE, and sequence analyses to cluster individuals according to similar patterns of family histories. Family histories show a considerable degree of heterogeneity with respect to timing, quantum and probability of experiencing certain events. This heterogeneity is reflected in strong variability in the probability of having (young) grandchildren and their number at different ages across the clusters of family trajectories. Our results provide a detailed demographic profile of grandparenthood and have important implications for...
Family histories and the demography of grandparenthood
Demographic Research, 2018
BACKGROUND Grandparenthood is an important phase of life for many individuals, and the grandparent role has consequences on younger generations and grandparents themselves. OBJECTIVE Despite the importance of the grandparent role, little is known about the demography of grandparenthood. In this study, we examine the variability of demographic aspects of grandparenthood (being a grandparent, number of grandchildren, having at least one young grandchild) according to family (partnership and fertility) histories. METHODS Using retrospective data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), we employ sequence and cluster analyses to group individuals according to similar patterns of fertility and partnership histories observed between age 15 and 49. In a second step, we use logistic and Poisson regressions to quantify how demographic aspects of grandparenthood vary across the identified family clusters at different ages and by gender. RESULTS Family histories are greatly heterogeneous with respect to timing, quantum, and probability of experiencing certain events. This heterogeneity is reflected in a strong variability in the probability of having (young) grandchildren and their number at different ages across the clusters of family trajectories. CONTRIBUTION We provide a detailed profile of three demographic characteristics of grandparenthood that significantly influence the opportunity structure for the development of the
Grandparenting in Europe: family policy and grandparents’ role in providing childcare
family structure, proximity and support across a variety of settings (e.g. the UK, Southern Europe and Latin America); the relationship between the multiple roles of mid-life individuals (focusing on work and family commitments) and well-being at older ages (i.e. physical, social and material); the living arrangements of older people in Britain and changes in residence patterns over time; and the relationship between disruptions in key life-course events, in particular family disruption due to divorce, death, or re-partnering and social support in later life. More recently she has focused on intergenerational relationships in ageing societies.
Grandparents in Italy: trends and changes in the demography of grandparenthood from 1998 to 2016
2021
In this article we explore the last two decades of changes in the demography of grandparenthood in Italy, by means of a set of measures: the proportion of men and women becoming grandparents by age and time, the age at transition to grandparenthood and its crossing with a set of life events and the length of grandparenthood. We used data from the four waves of the Survey on Family and Social Subjects carried out by the Italian National Institute of Statistics in 1998, 2003, 2009 and 2016. Overall, the median age at which half of the population over 35 is made up of grandparents moved forward by at least 5 years during the two observed decades. The postponement of grandparenthood is evident in middle age: between 55 and 64 the ratio of grandparents to non-grandparents decreased significantly by about 10 per cent. Overall, among people who had ever had children, the median age at the transition to grandparenthood advanced by three years from 1998 to 2016, both for men (59 to 62) and w...
2013
family structure, proximity and support across a variety of settings (e.g. the UK, Southern Europe and Latin America); the relationship between the multiple roles of mid-life individuals (focusing on work and family commitments) and well-being at older ages (i.e. physical, social and material); the living arrangements of older people in Britain and changes in residence patterns over time; and the relationship between disruptions in key life-course events, in particular family disruption due to divorce, death, or re-partnering and social support in later life. More recently she has focused on intergenerational relationships in ageing societies.
Grandparenthood in China and Western Europe: An analysis of CHARLS and SHARE
Advances in Life Course Research, 2018
Grandparenthood is a fascinating research area that not only brings together three generations and multiple roles in different life domains, but also echoes social contexts across historical times and places. Comparative research on grandparenthood, however, rarely includes non-western countries. This article seeks to answer the question of how grandparenthood differs between Western Europe and China by using comparable representative surveys of older adults. We extend the literature in two ways by showing that: 1) compared to Western Europe, becoming a grandparent occurs earlier and is virtually universal in both Urban and Rural China-the probability of being a grandparent is over 80% for Chinese by the time they are 55, while the same cannot be said for Western Europeans until they are aged between 70 and 80; and 2) the role-overlaps with grandparenthood are different for older Chinese and Western Europeans. The probability of being a working grandparent in Rural China is about twice that in Western Europe, while the rate is similar to Western Europeans for Urban Chinese. Chinese grandparents are also more likely to live with their children than Western Europeans. Conversely, as all family transitions come earlier for Chinese but life expectancy is shorter, the probabilities that grandparenthood overlaps with widowhood and filial roles are similar to that in Western Europe. Taken together, this study provides an overarching picture of the characteristics of grandparenthood in different societies that are fundamental to the meaning, performance, and impact of grandparental roles and relevant to a better understanding of grandparenthood worldwide.