Results of EU wide research on grandparents which aims to: To investigate patterns of grandparent health and wellbeing and their relationship to socio-economic, demographic and caring roles (both for children and adults). To examine how cumulative advantage/disadvantage across the life course (e.g. in terms of childhood, work, partnership, health and/or housing trajectories), in addition to socio-economic and demographic characteristics, is associated with grandparent health and wellbeing. (value of life histories from age 16) To investigate how variations over time in grandparent childcare, and other socio-economic and demographic factors affect grandparents’ own health and wellbeing. We will examine how socio-economic status at each wave interacts with grandparent childcare to affect grandparents’ own health and wellbeing. For example, does grandparent childcare have a deleterious effect on health and wellbeing but only for those in the most vulnerable groups and at the highest care intensities? Does grandparental involvement at lower intensities have a beneficial impact on health and wellbeing?

1. What is the impact on
Grandparents of their caring
responsibilities?
Karen Glaser, Giorgio DiGessa, Anthea Tinker
Economic and Social Research Council
Institute of Gerontology, Department Social Science, Health & Medicine,
King’s College London
15 March 2013
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2. Outline of presentation
The research study:
1. Funder and timescale
2. Data and methods
3. What do we know?
4. The objectives of the research
5. The research questions
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3. 1. The research study – funder and
timescale
• Funded by the ESRC, in partnership with
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Grandparents
Plus and the Beth Johnson Foundation
• ESRC Secondary Data Analysis Initiative Phase 1
• Start April 2013 - October 2014
• Fits well with European Year of Active Ageing
and Solidarity between Generations
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4. 2. Data and Methods
• English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) and Survey
of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE)
• Multivariate longitudinal analysis to capture impact of
grandparent childcare on health and wellbeing
outcomes across the various survey waves.
• Analysis will focus on interactions between socioeconomic circumstances and grandparent childcare at
each point in time.
• Will exploit both the longitudinal and the retrospective
elements by looking at lifecourse and time-varying
predictors associated with grandparent health and
wellbeing.
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5. 3. What do we know?
• Grandparents play crucial role in childcare.
• For example, in Britain, nearly two thirds (63%) of
grandparents with grandchildren under 16 are
providing childcare often to enable parents to
work.
• Our work shows rise in ‘skipped-generation
households’ (these households more likely to fall
below poverty line).
• Those with ‘primary responsibility ’ for grandchild
care thought to be among the most vulnerable.
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6. What do we know?
• Greater vulnerabilities associated primary responsibility for
grandchild care makes understanding its consequences for
health and wellbeing a critical issue, yet research to date is
inconclusive.
• Few studies that have investigated this issue longitudinally (that
is, taking pre-existing health and socio-economic conditions to
into account)and so have led to mixed results.
• As these groups are often among the poorest, the relationship
between grandparental care giving and health and wellbeing
may be different for more disadvantaged groups - suggesting a
complex relationship between disadvantage and health and
wellbeing outcomes for older people.
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7. 4. The objective of the research
• To clarify how grandparental childcare
interacts with other socio-economic,
demographic and health determinants to
impact on health and wellbeing of
grandparents.
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8. 5. The research questions
•
•
To investigate patterns of grandparent health and
wellbeing and their relationship to socio-economic,
demographic and caring roles (both for children and
adults).
To examine how cumulative advantage/disadvantage
across the life course (e.g. in terms of childhood,
work, partnership, health and/or housing
trajectories), in addition to socio-economic and
demographic characteristics, is associated with
grandparent health and wellbeing. (value of life
histories from age 16)
8

9. 5. The research questions
•
To investigate how variations over time in grandparent
childcare, and other socio-economic and demographic
factors affect grandparents’ own health and wellbeing. We
will examine how socio-economic status at each wave
interacts with grandparent childcare to affect
grandparents’ own health and wellbeing.
–
–
For example, does grandparent childcare have a deleterious
effect on health and wellbeing but only for those in the most
vulnerable groups and at the highest care intensities?
Does grandparental involvement at lower intensities have a
beneficial impact on health and wellbeing?
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10. We welcome questions and
comments
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