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## Grandparents As Caregivers

The 1994 Census Bureau Report estimates that 3.7 million children live in a householdheaded by a grandparent. For almost 1.3 million children, a grandparent, often thegrandmother, is their primary caregiver. This figure reflects an increase of 27 percentfrom the previous year in the number of children being raised by grandparents. Nearly 46percent of these children are African American, almost 42 percent are Caucasian, and 12percent are Hispanic.  

In recognition of these dramatic numbers, the U.S. Administration on Aging (AoA) hasincluded both the issues of grandparents raising grandchildren and caregiving in generalas important components of its emphasis on home and community-based care services forfamilies. If not for these grandparent caregivers and their critical care, millions ofchildren would be denied the opportunity to grow up in stable homes and communities amongtheir families and friends, with potentially tragic consequences.

Grandparents stepping in to raise grandchildren or other relatives is nota new concept. For decades, families in the United States, particularly in minoritycommunities, have depended upon extended family arrangements for child-rearing andeconomic survival. These multigenerational and intergenerational family arrangements arevery important in many cultures. However, it is the recent and unprecedented proliferationof grandparents who are involved in child-rearing in the United States that forces thenation to pay closer attention.

Data collected by the American Association of Retired Persons Grandparent InformationCenter, from a sampling of 500 grandparent callers during a one-year period, indicatedthat 71 percent of grandparents are their grandchildren's permanent primary caregivers.The average age of the grandparents polled was 55, with nearly 75 percent within the 50 to70 age range. Forty-six percent of the grandparents reported living on a fixed incomewhile caring for their grandchildren. The grandparents reasons for stepping in to care fortheir grandchildren ranged from parental substance abuse, child abuse, neglect orabandonment to unemployment, divorce, AIDS and death.

Older persons raising grandchildren often face a myriad of challenges, such as theirown declining health or the need to provide support to the absent parent of thegrandchild. Other challenges some grandparents confront include lack of support andrespite services, affordable housing and access to medical care, as well as otherphysical, emotional and family strains. In some cases, they may not have the financialresources to raise another family, or may use their savings or deplete their retirementfunds in order to do so. 

Over the years, realizing the crucial function of grandparents as caregivers insociety, AoA has made provisions for programs supporting grandparents and promotingintergenerational and multigenerational understanding. These programs have been madeavailable through the Older Americans Act's Title IV discretionary program. Two exemplaryprograms were administered through the New York City Department for the Aging and thePennsylvania Department on Aging. New York's program focused on training older persons toprovide support and assistance to the grandparent or relative caregiver, andPennsylvania's program offered grandparents the opportunity to have their grandchildrenimmunized for free at senior centers in participating Pennsylvania counties.

AoA is not alone in recognizing the tremendous and unselfish contributions thatgrandparents make on a daily basis to keeping their families together. Across the UnitedStates, the aging network, aging andnon-traditional aging organizations, the privatesector, educational and religious institutions and the media are acknowledging theenormous role grandparents play in the lives of thousands of children. Public-privatepartnerships are forming at the local level to support grandparent-grandchildren families.Grandparents themselves are working together, learning from each other and, as consumers,becoming advocates for their own issues and concerns, empowering themselves to enhance thequality of life for their grandchildren. 

In January 1995, President Clinton signed a formal proclamation declaring 1995 as theYear of the Grandparent, recognizing the extraordinary place that grandparents hold in ourfamilies and communities. Later in the year, at the historic 1995 White House Conferenceon Aging, the concerns faced by grandparent caregivers figured prominently. The 1995 WhiteHouse Conference on Aging was the first of its kind to bring the concerns and issues ofgrandparent caregivers to the forefront through the unanimous adoption of two resolutionsaddressing the challenges they face. AoA, working with the aging network, is committed toimplementing these important resolutions. 

An important step in implementing one resolution was taken in November of1996 when President Clinton, resuming a tradition begun in 1986, issued a formalproclamation designating the week of Thanksgiving as National Family Caregivers Week. Thisproclamation calls attention to the contributions family caregivers make to their lovedones and society as a whole.

The challenges faced by grandparents who are raising their grandchildrencan be daunting, but they are surmountable. It is important that society becomeincreasingly aware of the importance of supporting grandparents who are caregivers. AsPresident Clinton said during the Year of the Grandparent proclamation signing ceremony,Despite (society's) many changes, grandparents remain a source of knowledge and stabilityin American families. Grandparents help us to understand the past and encourage us to hopefor the future. 

### Where to Go for Help

Resources, which can be accessed through the national aging network, are available tosupport older persons who are serving as primary caregivers to their grandchildren orother younger family members. Headed by AoA, the network comprises AoA's regional offices;57 State Units on Aging; more than 661 Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs); 222 tribalorganizations, representing 300 tribes; and thousands of service providers, seniorcenters, caregivers and volunteers. Working in close partnership, the members of the agingnetwork plan, coordinate and develop community-level systems of services designed to meetthe unique needs of older persons.

For more information about AoA and the aging network, please contact:Executive Secretariat, Administration on Aging, U.S. Department of Health and HumanServices, Washington, D.C. 20201, Phone: (202) 619-0724, Fax: (202) 260-1012, TDD: (202)401-7575, Email: [email protected]Internet Website: http://www.aoa.dhhs.gov

AoA also supports a nationwide toll-free information and assistancedirectory for older people and caregivers of all ages called the Eldercare Locator, whichcan provide the name and phone number of the AAA(s) nearest to the person needingassistance. The Eldercare Locator can be reached by dialing toll-free, 1-800-677-1116,Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time.

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Hypertext conversion by SaadiaGreenberg, March, 1997