What Happens When Grandparents Help Raise Children

New research reveals how grandparents play a key role as co-caregivers of their grandchildren across the globe

Grandparents bring great benefit to families raising children in intergenerational homes. Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock

About one billion people in the world today are grandparents. Because humans are living longer, we’re spending more time in the grandparenting role compared to past generations. What’s more, people are having fewer children overall, which means grandparents can dedicate more distinct time to each grandchild.

Grandparents have been universally important in families across time, and their role continues to evolve, but their involvement in their grandchildrens’ lives is different around the world. In the United States, roughly 10 percent of grandparents lived with a grandchild in 2012. In Africa and Asia, living in a multi-generational household is a common practice.