National Demographics of Grandparents Raising Grandchildren and Impact on African American Grandpare

During a time of expectancy for retirement and leisure, some grandparents are caught unprepared with the demand of raising their grandchildren (Kelch-Oliver, 2008; Kelley, Whitely, & Campos, 2010). Between 1980 and 1990, there was a 44 percent increase in the number of grandparents raising their grandchildren (Havir, 1999). In the year 2000, nearly 2.4 million grandparents were raising their grandchildren (U.S. Census Bureau, 2001). By 2012, there were nearly 2.6 million grandparents raising over 6 million grandchildren in the U.S (Jackson, 2011). As of today, almost 300,000 grandparents in the State of Texas are raising 862,624 grandchildren. Of these nearly 300,000 grandparent caregivers, 17% are African American (AA). In Dallas, there are 13,665 grandparents raising grandchildren without the help of either parent making it the third largest city in TX with grandparent-headed families (American Association of Retired Persons TX, 2013).

Grandparent caregiving moves across all ethnicities. However, AAs have 83% higher odds of being grandparent caregivers (Minkler & Fuller-Thomson, 1999). In fact, AA children are 13.5% more likely to live with a grandparent as compared to 6.5% for White grandchildren, and 4.1% for Hispanic grandchildren (Cox, 2002). AA grandparents are willing to undertake responsibility for their grandchildren to keep them out of the foster care system (Kelch-Oliver, 2008). In contrast, AA grandparent caregivers are more likely to live in poverty than AA non-grandparent caregivers (Minkler & Fuller Thompson, 2005, Kelley, Whitely, & Campos, 2010).

Unique to this ethnicity are AA grandmothers (Kelley, Whitley, & Campos, 2010). AA grandmothers are a source of strength for grandchildren living in grandparent-headed households and play a significant role in preserving and strengthening the family (Kelch-Oliver, 2008). This is partly due to, “women of African descent having a legacy of resilience, spirituality, and hope” (Waites, 2009, p. 278). In contrast, AA grandmother caregivers often experience the most stress and have the fewest resources (Musil & Ahmad, 2002, Kelch-Oliver, 2008). Many of them are low income, single AA women and choose not to ask for help due to resiliency and spirituality (Kelch-Oliver, 2008). Religion and spirituality are strengths of AA families (Waites, 2009). This is due to the history, culture, values, and cultural adaptations within AA families. A strong sense of faith and resilience bring strong family ties in grandparent-headed families which have been effective coping methods for AA grandparent caregivers (Waites, 2009).