Volume 43 - Article 53 | Pages 1545–1562  

Looking after grandchildren: gender differences in ‘when,’ ‘what,’ and ‘why’: Evidence from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing

By Giorgio Di Gessa, Paola Zaninotto, Karen Glaser

Abstract

Background: Grandparents play a vital role in providing childcare to families. However, little is known about when grandmothers and grandfathers look after grandchildren, what they do with them, and why.

Objective: Using novel questions on grandparenting, we first describe the periodicity of grandchild care, activities undertaken with/for grandchildren, and motivations for such care to then assess if there are gender differences.

Methods: We used wave 8 (2016/17) of the nationally-representative English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. The extent to which the periodicity, activities, and motivations are gendered was assessed using logistic regressions. Analyses were carried out on the entire sample of grandparents who provide childcare as well as on coresiding grandparent couples where both grandparents provide grandchild care.

Results: More than 50% of grandparents looked after grandchildren, with the majority doing so throughout the year and about one in four during school holidays. Few gender differences were observed in the periodicity of grandchild care and reasons for looking after grandchildren, with almost two-thirds reporting that they wanted to help parents go to work and give them a break. However, when activities undertaken for/with grandchildren were analysed, clear gender differences emerged. Overall, grandmothers were more likely to report caring and helping activities (e.g., cooking, caring when sick, helping with homework, and collecting them from school) than grandfathers, even when they coresided.

Contribution: Our study is the first to document, at a population level, gender differences in the periodicity of grandchild care, what grandparents do when they look after grandchildren, and why they provide such care.

Author's Affiliation

Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research

Blame the parents? The association between parental longevity and successful ageing
Volume 19 - Article 38

Most recent similar articles in Demographic Research

Housework time and task segregation: Revisiting gender inequality among parents in 15 European countries
Volume 50 - Article 19    | Keywords: cross-national comparison, gender, housework

Leaving and returning to the parental home during COVID times in France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom
Volume 50 - Article 3    | Keywords: behavior, COVID-19, intentions, leaving the parental home, motivations

The gender gap in schooling outcomes: A cohort study of young men and women in India
Volume 48 - Article 33    | Keywords: cohort studies, educational attainment, gender, India, secondary education

Aligning household decision-making with work and education: A comparative analysis of women’s empowerment
Volume 48 - Article 19    | Keywords: autonomy, cross-national comparison, decision-making, developing countries, development, gender, gender inequalities, latent class analysis, women empowerment

The sex preference for children in Europe: Children’s sex and the probability and timing of births
Volume 48 - Article 8    | Keywords: Europe, family structure, fertility, gender, progression rate, sex, sex composition, son preference