Abstract
Healthy grandparenthood represents the period of overlap during which grandparents and grandchildren can build relationships, and grandparents can make intergenerational transfers to younger kin. The health of grandparents has important implications for upward and downward intergenerational transfers within kinship networks in aging societies. Although the length of grandparenthood is determined by fertility and mortality patterns, the amount of time spent as a healthy grandparent is also affected by morbidity. In this study, we estimate the length of healthy grandparenthood for the first time. Using U.S. and Canadian data, we examine changes in the length of healthy grandparenthood during years when grandparenthood was postponed, health improved, and mortality declined. We also examine variation in healthy grandparenthood by education and race/ethnicity within the United States. Our findings show that the period of healthy grandparenthood is becoming longer because of improvements in health and mortality, which more than offset delays in grandparenthood. Important variation exists within the United States by race/ethnicity and education, which has important implications for family relationships and transfers.
Highlights
Changes in fertility and mortality shift the age at which we transition into different family roles and the length of time that our lives overlap with those of our kin
We examine the length of healthy grandparenthood in the United States and Canada as well as how it has changed over time
Fertility postponement across multiple generations has delayed the transition to grandparenthood
Summary
Changes in fertility and mortality shift the age at which we transition into different family roles and the length of time that our lives overlap with those of our kin. Because of fertility postponement over multiple generations, adults in North America and Europe are becoming grandparents later in life than ever before (Leopold and Skopek 2015a; Margolis 2016) This later transition to grandparenthood may be offset by gains in longevity, which increase the time spent as a grandparent (Margolis 2016). Margolis (2016) documented even larger delays in the timing of grandparenthood in Canada She found that the age at which one-half of women and men become grandparents increased by about 10 years between 1985 and 2011 (from mid-40s to mid-50s among women and from early 50s to early 60s among men) (Margolis 2016)
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