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ten - Grandfamilies in the United States: an intersectional analysis
- Edited by Virpi Timonen, Trinity College Dublin
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- Book:
- Grandparenting Practices around the World
- Published by:
- Bristol University Press
- Published online:
- 22 April 2022
- Print publication:
- 14 November 2018, pp 189-208
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- Chapter
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Summary
Historically, grandparents have served as important sources of instrumental and emotional support to their children and grandchildren (Uhlenberg and Cheuk, 2010). The nature and extent of the support provided by grandparents to younger generations varies widely across global contexts and is influenced by sociopolitical forces, including economic opportunities, immigration, urban migration, disease epidemics and armed conflicts, as well as cultural traditions of grandparent involvement (Dolbin-MacNab and Yancura, 2018). Specific family circumstances such as intergenerational solidarity and family crises are also relevant to understanding grandparents’ involvement in their families (Dolbin-MacNab and Yancura, 2018). Serving as a surrogate parent to one's grandchildren reflects one of the most intensive degrees of grandparent involvement in family life. In this chapter, these grandparents will be referred to as grandparents raising grandchildren, and their families as grandfamilies.
In the United States, approximately 2.6 million grandparents are raising 2.5 million or 3% of all children (Annie E. Casey Foundation Kids Count Data Center, 2016; Ellis and Simmons, 2014). Approximately one third of these grandparents are living in skipped generation households, meaning they are raising their grandchildren in a home without the grandchild's parents (Ellis and Simmons, 2014). While the remaining grandparents may co-reside with one or both of the grandchildren's parents, typically the grandchild's mother, these grandparents are often functioning as parental figures and supporting their grandchildren financially (Baker and Mutchler, 2010). Raising grandchildren is often a long-term caregiving arrangement: 39% of grandparents have raised their grandchildren for at least five years (Ellis and Simmons, 2014). Finally, United States grandparents raise their grandchildren both formally and informally; grandparents raising grandchildren formally do so within the context of the child welfare system or have established a legal relationship, such as custody, guardianship or adoption, with their grandchildren (Generations United, 2016). The vast majority of grandparents in the United States, however, are raising their grandchildren informally; there are 26 children in informal caregiving arrangements for every one child living in a formal arrangement (Generations United, 2015). These informal caregiving arrangements create barriers to grandparents’ ability to access support services through the government, enrol their grandchildren in school and/or obtain medical care (Generations United, 2015).
Dumela Mma: an examination of resilience among South African grandmothers raising grandchildren
- MEGAN L. DOLBIN-MACNAB, SHANNON E. JARROTT, LYN E. MOORE, KENDRA A. O'HORA, MARIETTE DE CHAVONNES VRUGT, MYRTLE ERASMUS
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- Journal:
- Ageing & Society / Volume 36 / Issue 10 / November 2016
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 21 September 2015, pp. 2182-2212
- Print publication:
- November 2016
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- Article
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Grandmothers serve as primary care-givers for a significant number of South African children. Previous research has documented that South African grandmothers experience physical, financial, emotional and social adversity. However, less attention has been given to South African grandmothers' resilience, or their capacity to respond to the challenges associated with raising their grandchildren. Utilising Walsh's (2003; 2012) family resilience model, this qualitative study examined resilience and resilient processes among 75 Black South African grandmothers raising grandchildren. Grandmothers participated in structured interviews during a weekly visit to a local luncheon (social) club. Results indicated that the grandmothers perceived themselves as engaging in a number of resilient processes, including relying on their spirituality, accessing sources of instrumental support, and seeking emotional support and companionship from their grandchildren and larger communities. Grandmothers also believed that focusing on their grandchildren contributed to their sense of resilience. This involved maintaining a sense of responsibility to their grandchildren, having hope for their grandchildren's futures and finding enjoyment in the grandmother–grandchild relationship. The findings reveal that, by engaging in various resilient processes, South African grandmothers raising grandchildren perceive themselves and their families as having strategies they can utilise in order to successfully cope with adversity. Findings also highlight the need for prevention and intervention efforts designed to promote grandmothers' resilience, as well as the resilience of their grandchildren.
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