Strengths and Needs of African American and European American Grandmothers in the Working and Middle Classes

Abstract

This study examined the strengths and needs of 82 African American and 179 European American grandmothers from working- and middle-class backgrounds in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Survey results revealed that African American grandmothers perceived themselves to be significantly more involved in teaching their grandchildren, but also significantly more likely to need information about various aspects of their grandchildren's lives, than their European American counterparts. Middle-class grandmothers reported significantly less frustration in their grandparenting role than working-class grandmothers. Implications of the findings for the development of grandparent education programs are discussed. When the White House Conferences on Aging adjourned in 1961,1971, and 1981, hundreds of recommendations lay on the desk of Presidents Kennedy, Nixon, and Reagan, but none dealt directly with the role of grandparents (White House Conference on Aging, 1981). However, the century's fourth and final White House Conference on Aging in 1995 focused the nation's attention on the important topic of grandparenting (White House Conference on Aging, 1995). Current data indicates that at least 1.4 million children in the United States are being raised by grandparents with no parent present in the household (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1999). Moreover, in all racial groups and at all socioeconomic levels, grandparents are assuming greater responsibility for raising their grandchildren (FullerThomson, Minkler, & Driver, 1997; Rothstein & Chalfie, 1994). A number of factors appear to be responsible for grandparents' increasing involvement in their grandchildren's lives. One factor contributing to this increase is expanding longevity: since 1900, African Americans have gained more than 30 years and European Americans more than 20 years in life expectancy (Kain, 1993). The proportion of Americans aged 65 years or older has tripled since the beginning of the twentieth century (Sprey & Matthews, 1982). At the beginning of the century, less than 25% of children born had all four grandparents alive, but nearly 70% of children born in the year 2000 will have four living grandparents (Unlenberg & Peter, 1996). Higher rates of divorce, single-parent families, and adolescent parenthood in recent decades are other factors that have contributed to the more active roles of grandparents in their grandchildren's lives (Taylor, Chatters & Jackson, 1993). In recent decades, many grandmothers have increased their involvement in the parenting of their grandchildren (Cherlin & Furstenberg, 1986; Rothstein & Chalfie, 1994). Such grandmothers are likely to require assistance in coping with the added demands and stresses of parenting responsibilities. Interventions that consider the strengths and needs of grandmothers, particularly with respect to factors such as race and socioeconomic status, may help practitioners enhance the physical and emotional well-being of grandmothers who have regular contact with their grandchildren. With the growing interest in grandparent burden and the development of effective grandparent education programs (Strom & Strom, 1997), it is important to obtain knowledge about the experiences and challenges of specific grandparent populations. Given the central role of grandmothers in many contemporary families, this study examined grandmothers' involvement with their grandchildren as a function of their race and socioeconomic status. Specifically, the study explored the grandparenting strengths and needs of African American and European American grandmothers in the working and middle classes. Comparisons were made between four groups: working-class African American grandmothers, middle-class African American grandmothers, working-class European American grandmothers, and middle-class European American grandmothers. GRANDPARENT TEACHING AND CAREGIVING Teaching is one task assumed by many grandmothers who have regular contact with their grandchildren. …