Grandchild care, intergenerational transfers, and grandparents’ labor supply

Abstract

One-fifth of children aged below five with employed mothers benefit from grandparent provided child care as their main source of daycare in the US. Using data from the health and retirement study, we investigate how grandchild care needs relate to intergenerational transfers of time and money and grandparents’ labor supply behavior. We find that grandparents with a new born grandchild are more likely to provide grandchild care while married grandparents are also more likely to be employed and provide financial help. Grandparents with grandchildren living close by provided higher time transfers while married grandmothers with resident grandchildren also worked longer hours.