Are grandparents a good substitute for parents as the primary caregiver? The impact of grandparents on Children's academic performance

Abstract

This study examines the impacts of caregiving by grandparents on children's academic performance in China. Using data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS 2010 and 2014), we find evidence that grandparents appear to have an adverse effect on the test scores of their school-age grandchildren, and the negative effect is concentrated on grandparents with lower educational attainment and on boys. We further examine the mechanisms of this negative effect. Our results suggest that parenting styles play an important role in the success of grandchildren and the common parenting styles of grandparents in China compromise childhood development. Given that grandparents taking care of grandchild is prevalent nowadays and its negative effect on children's academic performance is worrisome, our results have important policy implication: parenting training could help to mitigate the negative effects of non-parental caregivers.