Grandparents in the 21st Century

A grandparent raising their grandchild has historically increased in the United States over the last few decades impacting health care, and public assistance programs. The US Census Bureau (2000) has added a survey question regarding grandparents to pinpoint individuals who may need assistance. Minkler and Fuller-Thomson (2005) report grandparent caregivers struggle with "additional cost related to education, health care, and other basic needs of the children in their care" (p. S89). According to Simmons and Dyer (2003) and the 2000 Census Bureau approximately "2.4 million or 42 percent grandparent care-givers have primary responsibility for their co resident grandchild younger than 18" (p.1).

Fuller-Thomson and Minkler (2000) discover "more than half (53.6 percent) grandparents care for their grandchild younger than one year old, and 20.5 percent undertook care between the ages of one and five" (Fuller-Thomson & Minkler, 2000, p.112). The Biological parents are absent from the grandparent-headed households for an array of rationale (Fuller-Thomson & Minkler, 2000). The study shows a historically strong correlation of care giving grandparents exist within the African American family. Researchers found "three fourths of caregivers are widowed compared to half non caregivers" (Fuller-Thomson & Minkler, 2000, p. 112).