Exploring Co-Residential Grandparents’ Time Investments in Grandchildren in the United States

TL;DR

The study explores how much time U.S. grandparents spend with their grandchildren, revealing patterns based on family structure and gender.

Contribution

This study provides the first nationally representative analysis of co-residential grandparents' time investments in grandchildren using time diary data.

Findings

Co-residential grandparents spend an average of 3.25 hours per day with grandchildren.

Grandmothers spend more time caring for grandchildren than grandfathers.

Grandparent time declines as grandchildren grow older.

Abstract

More than six million households across the United States contain both grandparents and grandchildren. Despite the prevalence of co-residential grandparents in skipped-generation grandfamilies (containing grandchildren and grandparents but no parent generation) or multigenerational households (containing children, parents, and grandparents), detailed knowledge of grandparents’ time-based contributions to grandchildren’s development is currently limited. Mirroring the vast parental time investment literature, we use nationally representative time diary data from the American Time Use Survey (2003-2022) to test three hypotheses–linked lives, gender, and grandchild needs–around the amount of time grandparents (N = 5,557) spend with grandchildren under age 18. Bivariate results show that (1) co-residential grandparents spend an average of 3.25 hours per day with their grandchildren, (2) co-residential grandmothers spend more time caring for grandchildren than co-residential grandfathers, (3) grandparents in grandfamilies spend more time with grandchildren than grandparents in multigenerational households, and (4) grandparent time investments decline with grandchild age. Analyzing the composition of co-residential grandparents’ time with grandchildren and the intersections between gender, family structure, and grandchild needs reveals a more complex and nuanced picture of grandparent investments in grandchildren. Results highlight the need for policies and support systems tailored to co-residential grandparents with varying circumstances who invest in their grandchildren’s care and development.