The Grandparent Connection

By Ann Douglas

Not all the grownups in the waiting rooms at pediatricians' offices these days are moms and dads.

Approximately one percent of Canadian grandparents are responsible for raising their grandchildren without any hands-on help from the children's parents. In some cases, the parents are in jail; in other cases, they are seriously ill or even deceased.

So who are these very hands-on grandparents? According to Statistics Canada, they are primarily older women: two-thirds of these caregivers are female and just under half of them (46%) are retired.

Taking on the role of raising a second family later in life is a huge responsibility—and not one that comes easily to every grandmother. Researchers at the University of Florida have discovered that younger grandmothers have a more difficult time adjusting to the added responsibility than their older counterparts.


“Unlike older grandparents who are frequently retired, middle-aged grandparents face problems trying to balance their newfound parenting roles with other responsibilities, including the demands of careers and personal interests,” notes University of Florida sociologist Terry Mills, who reported on her research in a study published in the April 2005 issue of the journal Marriage and Family Review.

Other studies have shown that role confusion about whether they are a parent or a grandparent and feelings of having failed as a parent themselves because their child is unable to care for his or her own child are other factors that can contribute to feelings of depression in grandparents who are raising their grandchildren.

What's clear from the growing body of research about grandparents raising grandchildren is that there needs are different from those of parents—and that they would benefit from greater support.