Who should get the bouquet on Sunday? Mothers or grandmothers?
12 March 2010
With people living longer and more mothers working, a research team involving Oxford University has conducted the first national survey in England and Wales of adolescents to examine the level of grandparent involvement they receive.
The results of the survey, which involved nearly 1,500 11-16 year olds, is published in Journal of Family Issues (28 Feb). A very high percentage of the adolescents had at least one parent involved in their daily lives; Overall between 80 and 90 per cent of young people reported that they were regularly in touch with at least one, or all, of the grandparents. Most of the grandparents (55 per cent of maternal grandmothers) were involved on a regular basis in providing financial support or other assistance. There was also considerable involvement from the maternal grandparents in other aspects of the young people’s lives, such as sharing interests, activities and talking about future plans.
Professor Ann Buchanan, one of the report authors from the Centre for Research into Parenting and Family at Oxford University, said: ‘ It may be that with the changing family scenario – more working parents, more divorces, and increased longevity – grandparents are filling the gap between the time-poor parents and the parenting needs of young people.
‘To date, grandparents are almost invisible on the policy agenda in the United Kingdom. Overall, the active parenting that grandparents are giving their adolescent children at a crucial period in the young people’s lives appears to be underestimated and under-recognised. Grandparents are already there as partners in parenting, and possibly filling the parenting gap for time-poor parents stretched by the many commitments of modern life, so the contribution of grandparents needs a better recognition.
’ The study finds that if grandparents were less disadvantaged financially they were more likely to be involved in their grandparents’ lives. Another interesting finding is that most adolescents surveyed said they were closest to their maternal grandparents and granddaughters were more likely than grandsons to report they were close to their grandparents. Although proximity is a factor, more than half the grandparents lived close to their grandchildren (within a 10 mile radius); this study shows that even when separated by considerable distances, grandchildren stay close with their grandparents through modern communications, such as mobile phones, and emails as well as face-to-face contact in the school holidays.
The majority (64 per cent) of children surveyed were from families with two parents, 17 per cent were from lone parent families and 15 per cent from step families with 3 per cent in another type of living arrangement (such as with a grandparent, sibling or another relative). Almost half (40 per cent) of the adolescents identified their maternal grandmother as the closest grandparent followed by the maternal grandfather (22 per cent) and paternal grandmother (22 per cent). Maternal grandmothers were also the most actively involved grandparents followed by the maternal grandfathers.
The extent of grandparent involvement varied according to the child’s own characteristics. Younger adolescents, who were female and white, reported greater involvement of their closest grandparent in their lives. The number of family crises or family adversity was not reported to make a significant contribution to the amount of grandparent involvement. Older adolescents said they were less involved with grandparents, but contrary to some other studies, there was still found to be considerable involvement with this age group.
The extent of grandparent involvement was also found to be affected by whether the grandparents were in good health and by whether their parents had a good relationship with their grandparents and fostered the links.
For an interview with Professor Ann Buchanan, please contact the University of Oxford Press Office on 01865 280534 or email press.office@admin.ox.ac.uk
The full paper can be viewed at http://jfi.sagepub.com/pap.dtl
- ‘Filling the Parenting Gap? Grandparent involvement with UK adolescents’ by Jo-Pei Tan, Ann Buchanan, Eirini Flouri, Shalhever Attar-Schwartz, and Julia Griggs is in the Journal of Family Issues Online First (published 28 Feb)