Latino Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: Cultural Assets and Support Strategies
Nancy Mendoza

TL;DR
Latino grandparents raising grandchildren face unique challenges and can benefit from support strategies that respect their cultural values.
Contribution
The paper highlights how Latino cultural values can be leveraged as assets to improve support for grandparent caregivers.
Findings
Latino grandparents raising grandchildren often rely on cultural values like familismo due to mistrust in formal services.
Incorporating cultural practices into support strategies can improve outcomes for these grandparent caregivers.
Mutual aid and culturally informed approaches are crucial for addressing service gaps in this population.
Abstract
The prevalence of Latino grandparents raising grandchildren continues to rise. In 2019, an estimated 1 out of 7 Latino children lived with a grandparent, and 1.6% were being raised solely by a grandparent, with no parent in the home. Despite the high prevalence of these grandfamilies, they remain under-researched and underserved. Limited research shows that cultural values such as familismo, machismo, and marianismo significantly impact their experiences. Effective supports should consider and incorporate Latino cultural values. In a climate where formal support services are becoming more limited and are often inappropriate for Latino grandparent caregivers, there is a greater reliance on and need for mutual aid. This is crucial as there is often reluctance to engage with formal service networks due to mistrust and fear of repercussions. By understanding how Latino culture influences…
Peer Reviews
No public reviews on file for this paper yet. If you reviewed it on a platform where reviews are public (OpenReview, ICLR, NeurIPS, ICML), you can paste yours below so the community can read it here.
Videos
No videos yet. Explain this paper in a talk, walkthrough, or lecture? Add one.
Taxonomy
TopicsIntergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving · Child Welfare and Adoption · Family Dynamics and Relationships
