Skipped Generation Families Research Articles

The Measurement Model of Family Strengths for Generation Alpha in the Thai Context.

The concept of the Thai family has shifted from the traditional family to families of various forms, such as single-parent families, same-sex families, skipped-generation families, and one-person households, which affects not only mental health, but future relationships of the children. This research aimed to analyze the factors that contribute to family strengths in the context of Generation Alpha and develop a measurement model tailored to a Thai context. The sample consisted of parents and caregivers of Generation Alpha, divided into two sections, with 521 participants for exploratory factor analysis and 508 participants for confirmatory factor analysis. Using stratified random sampling, data were collected via questionnaires distributed across four regions of Thailand. The discrimination index ranged from 0.280-0.896, with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.952. The results revealed a measurement model consisting of five key factors contributing to family strengths. The factor with the highest score was positive relationships, with a factor loading of 0.92. Additional factors included technology and media literacy, parental roles, good attributes, and mental immunity, with a factor loading of 0.80, 0.74, 0.55, and 0.44, respectively. The measurement model of family strengths for Generation Alpha in the Thai context was found to be consistent with the empirical data. These findings suggest that understanding these family strengths can significantly enhance the well-being of both Generation Alpha and their family members.

Estimating the causal impact of non-traditional household structures on children’s educational performance using a machine learning propensity score

Over the past two decades, family structures have diversified. International migration has led to a rise in the number of families in which at least one parent is foreign-born. Increases have also been observed in both the rate of partnership separation, leading to a greater number of single-parent households and an increase in the number of families where grandparents have assumed caring responsibilities for their grandchildren. Evidence indicates a strong relationship between family structure and children’s educational outcomes. Parental involvement is well documented as a key ingredient for the educational success of children. Drawing on Taiwanese multi-wave survey data (Taiwan Assessment of Student Achievement) and a machine-learning-based propensity score algorithm for multiple treatments, this paper aims to determine the various relationships between children from different household structures (two-parent households, skipped generation households, single-parent households, and immigrant households) and their cognitive knowledge (measured by test scores). Key findings reveal that children from skipped generation households achieve the lowest performance scores and that those from immigrant households tend to perform even better than children from traditional two-parent households in certain disciplines. Our results suggest that policy interventions targeted at providing remedial education and/or financial assistance are needed to support children from skipped generation families to redress existing educational disadvantages in Taiwan.

The impact of a skipped-generation family structure on early child development in Khon Kaen Province: a prospective cohort study

Parenting in early childhood is related to child development. This study aimed to investigate the impact of a skipped-generation family structure on early child development. This prospective cohort study collected data on children aged 6 to 18 months from 132 non-skipped-generation families and 115 skipped-generation families from primary care units in Khon Kaen province for 1 year. The data were collected using a structured questionnaire administered through face-to-face interviews, as well as the Denver II instrument for assessing child development. Using multivariate logistic regression, the impact of a skipped-generation family structure on infant development was analysed, and adjusted relative risks (aRRs) are presented. We found that 19.83% (49/247) of the children had suspected delayed development in all domains. Most of these children resided in skipped-generation families, accounting for 27.82% of the sample (32/115). After adjusting for other factors, it was found that male children from skipped-generation families had a higher risk of suspected delayed language development (aRR = 14.56, 95% CI = 1.34 to 158.34, p = 0.028). In conclusion, the parental practices of skipped-generation families are suspected of causing delayed language development in boys. Models of early childhood development should be established for skipped-generation families.

Rodzina z pominiętym pokoleniem: doświadczenia życiowe dziadków wychowujących wnuki

Aim: In the last decade, many countries around the world have seen an increase in the number of skip-generation families in which grandparents take over the responsibility of raising grandchildren. The phenomenon described is also becoming more common in Poland. This article presents selected results of a study aimed at better understanding the experiences of grandparents raising grandchildren in skipped generation families. Methods: Participants were purposively selected from grandparents raising grandchildren living in skipped generation families in the Podlaskie Province. Data were collected through semi-structured in-depth interviews with 20 participants. The use of a biographical perspective in the research provided detailed narratives of the life experiences of older grandparents in skip generation families. Results and conclusions: The grandparents’ stories show the duality of experience consisting simultaneously of stress/satisfaction, sadness/joy, being seen/not seen. Addressing the issues faced by grandparents living in households with the skipped generation is important as it can reduce stress levels. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a model of support for grandparents raising grandchildren in skipped generation households which could be relevant for adapting to a new life situation and increasing psychological well-being.

Book Review of: Garrison, Gary. (2018). Raising Grandkids: Inside Skipped Generation Families. Regina: University of Regina Press.

Book Review of: Garrison, Gary. (2018). Raising Grandkids: Inside Skipped Generation Families. Regina: University of Regina Press.

Book Review of: Garrison, Gary. (2018). Raising Grandkids: Inside Skipped Generation Families. Regina: University of Regina Press.

Book Review of: Garrison, Gary. (2018). Raising Grandkids: Inside Skipped Generation Families. Regina: University of Regina Press.

Book Review of: Garrison, Gary. (2018). Raising Grandkids: Inside Skipped Generation Families. Regina: University of Regina Press.

Book Review of: Garrison, Gary. (2018). Raising Grandkids: Inside Skipped Generation Families. Regina: University of Regina Press.

Book Review of Garrison, Gary. (2018). Raising Grandkids: Inside Skipped-Generation Families. Regina: University of Regina Press.

Book Review of Garrison, Gary. (2018). Raising Grandkids: Inside Skipped-Generation Families. Regina: University of Regina Press.

A phenomenological study on older persons as a breadwinner of A skipped-generation family: day by day coping journey in Thai context

ABSTRACT Purpose: Many countries around the world are facing an ageing society in which older persons share the fate of carrying a burden in their families, especially in skipped-generation families. This increasing trend has noted over the past several years in Thailand. This is an interpretive phenomenological study that seeks to explore Thai older grandparents’ life experience of raising grandchildren in skipped-generation families. Methods: The participants were purposively selected from older grandparents in skipped-generation families in the Northeast of Thailand in 2019. Data were collected by in-depth interviews with 29 participants. Data were analysed using Diekelmann & Allen method. Results: Three major themes emerged regarding the Thai older persons as a breadwinner of a skipped-generation family were as follows. 1) Sacrifice for the family is a value of life. 2) Day by day coping journey of individuals maintains mental well-being. 3) Being grandparents leads to spiritual pride. Conclusion: The older grandparents suffered from a variety of burden and vulnerability beyond their abilities. Social and governmental supporting systems are limited. Creating supporting system strategy is required to increase well-being of grandparents in skipped-generation families.

112 Becoming parents again: the challenges of raising grandchildren as main caregiver

Abstract Background ‘Skipped generation households’ in which grandparents are the main caregiver to children under 18 years of age, are becoming common in Canada. Reasons for this include teen pregnancy, the death of a parent, mental illness and addictions. These grandparents and the grandchildren they care for are at significantly increased risk of physical and mental illness, yet receive less psychosocial and financial assistance compared to children that enter the foster system. Research on this population in Canada is limited. Objectives Our study aimed to use the lived experiences of skipped generation families to better identify their needs in the healthcare system. Design/Methods We conducted semi-structured interviews of grandparent primary caregivers from ten households in our community to chronicle their lived experiences raising their grandchildren. Participants were identified and recruited by general pediatricians using convenience sampling. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, coded using Atlas.ti software and classified into themes by consensus. Results A total of 11 primary caregiver grandparents from 10 households participated in interviews. Nine participants were female. The average age of grandparents was 56 years (range 45 to 64 years) and on average they had been caring for their grandchild for 4 years (range 0.9 to 9 years). Eight households began caring for their grandchild following involvement of the Department of Community Services. Five primary themes emerged from the interviews: Changes in family dynamics, psychosocial impact on grandchild and grandparent, lack of resources for grandparent caregivers, challenges parenting later in life, and resilience inspired by the love of family. Many participants described feeling unsupported, both financially and emotionally, after assuming care of their grandchildren and identified a need for additional counselling services, childcare subsidies and assistance through respite care. All participants involved highlighted that caring for their grandchildren changed their lives in many positive ways. Conclusion While grandparents are frequently prioritized as caregivers of apprehended children, our study suggests that they are also disproportionately under-resourced and poorly supported relative to children that instead enter the foster care system. Based on these findings, we urge for the provision of critical resources to address the emotional, respite and financial needs of these vulnerable children and their grandparents.

Skipped-Generation Families: Economic Happiness in Rural North-Eastern Thailand

This paper investigates economic happiness of skipped-generation families in rural north-eastern Thailand. The qualitative methodological approach was implemented in the study. Data collection was conducted in April - May 2018 and in-depth interview was used as a research instrument to collect data from two groups of key informants, including 1) community leaders, community seniors, and community commitees, In total eight persons, and 2) skipped-generation families living in a rural north-eastern region of Thailand, in total twenty families. Data analysis was done by the content analysis method. The study indicated that skipped-generation families are the familes with grandparents and grandchildren living together. Most families have an agricultural occupation, because they have a lot of land by inheritance and divided into two parts: housing and farming. Mostly agricultural income by sugar canes and farming can earn 2,400 USD per year. Moreover, remittances from international migrant only 450 USD per month is spent on family expenses and education of grandchildren. Some families do not have enoughmoney to invest in farming in the next year, and they have a lot more debt than 3,000 USD from a migrant who goes to work abroad. However, skipped-generation families have a perception of economic happiness "An empty hand is no lure for a hawk, no man is happy who does not think himself so" So, skipped-generation families must take this view to manage the economic situation of the family, even though the incomes are insuf-ficient to cover their living and lack of labor due to migrant workers going to work abroad. This affects the economic happiness of skipped-generation families to sustain their living in a rural society.SKIPPED-GENERATION FAMILIES:Economic Happiness in Rural North-Eastern Thailand

Grandparenting in Chinese skipped-generation families: cultural specificity of meanings and coping

ABSTRACT The main aim of this study is to fill a gap in the research on Chinese grandparents who raise their grandchildren in Hong Kong, which has implications for social policy and social welfare services. Grandparenting is embedded in Chinese culture, which emphasizes blood ties and intergenerational relationships and support. However, the meanings ascribed by grandparents who serve as surrogate/substitute parents have been found to be very different to those of grandparents in general, and of grandparents who play a less central role in caregiving. The cultural specificity of the meanings and experiences of grandparenting are examined based on the findings of an exploratory study. Analysis of the findings reveals six main themes: (1) explaining “why” in terms of “abnormality,” (2) a strong sense of shame and misfortune, (3) grandparenting as an expression and an extension of parental responsibility, (4) a lack of social legitimacy, (5) burden and distress, and (6) coping by mobilizing cultural and community resources. Although some of these themes are shared with other cultures and societies, others are found to be culturally specific to Hong Kong. In particular, the Chinese cultural context, in which parenting is culturally constructed as a lifelong responsibility, explains the strong commitment of grandparents to skipped-generation families. However, the difficulties and challenges faced by this group of caregivers should not be overlooked. Increased social support would certainly benefit this group of grandparents.

Relationships between grandchildren and grandparents in skipped generation families in Thailand

ABSTRACTGrandchildren are sometimes left in the care of their grandparents when parents migrate to find work. Using open-ended interviews with 48 grandparents, this study examines intergenerational relationships in “skipped generation households” in rural Thailand. The qualitative analyses identified several ways in which intergenerational relationships were characterized by solidarity (i.e., emotional closeness, instrumental helping, and financial assistance) as well as conflict (i.e., financial tension, grandchildren’s misbehavior, role confusion). These findings have important implications for practitioners and policymakers that could improve intergenerational relationships in skipped generation households.

Family structure and multiple domains of child well-being in the United States: a cross-sectional study.

BackgroundWe examine the association between family structure and children’s health care utilization, barriers to health care access, health, and schooling and cognitive outcomes and assess whether socioeconomic status (SES) accounts for those family structure differences. We advance prior research by focusing on understudied but increasingly common family structures including single father families and five different family structures that include grandparents.MethodsOur data on United States children aged birth through 17 (unweighted N = 198,864) come from the 1997–2013 waves of the National Health Interview Survey, a nationally representative, publicly available, household-based sample. We examine 17 outcomes across nine family structures, including married couple, cohabiting couple, single mother, and single father families, with and without grandparents, and skipped-generation families that include children and grandparents but not parents. The SES measures include family income, home ownership, and parents’ or grandparents’ (depending on who is in the household) employment and education.ResultsCompared to children living with married couples, children in single mother, extended single mother, and cohabiting couple families average poorer outcomes, but children in single father families sometimes average better health outcomes. The presence of grandparents in single parent, cohabiting, or married couple families does not buffer children from adverse outcomes. SES only partially explains family structure disparities in children’s well-being.ConclusionsAll non-married couple family structures are associated with some adverse outcomes among children, but the degree of disadvantage varies across family structures. Efforts to understand and improve child well-being might be most effective if they recognize the increasing diversity in children’s living arrangements.

Childrens Emotion And Behavior In Painting Activities

This study adopted various methods such as qualitative research, observation, interviews, and document collection to examine the emotional responses, behavior changes, and counseling effects on a single-parent child in a skipped-generation family before or after a series of painting activities. The participant was asked to take part in 50-minute sessions twice a week for 8 weeks (16 unit activities in total). According our research findings, after the painting activities: (1) The subject in this study exhibited significant improvement in personal relationships, and there was a positive performance in social interaction, namely, more initiative and willingness to share with others; (2) The subject became more active in his family activities, and he tended to have more positive interactions with his grandmother; (3) The subject created significant positive changes in terms of inherent abilities, learning motivation, self-affirmation, and self development; and (4) The subject had significant improvement in learning performance in kindergarten; and (5) The subjects communication and expression skills were dramatically enhanced. During the painting projects, the subject did maintain good interactions with researchers and was very pleased to share more through self-disclosure. Hence, this study will provide conclusions and suggestions in accordance with these research findings, which can serve as a valuable reference for future research as well as for any pre-kindergarten teacher who is counseling children living in skipped-generation families who are more likely to have poor social interactions.

Family Well-Being Concerns of Grandparents in Skipped Generation Families

This study examined the family well-being concerns of grandparents in skipped-generation families. Co-resident grandparents who are responsible for raising their grandchildren completed surveys, focus groups, or individual interviews. Service providers to skipped-generation families also participated in individual interviews to provide an additional perspective to grandparents' concerns. Results indicated 5 levels of concerns: intrapersonal, interpersonal, organizational or institutional, policy, and societal. Concerns at different levels were interrelated and pointed to the need for multilevel interventions to help these families. Implications of the findings for future interventions with skipped-generation families are discussed.

Golden Years? The Labor Market Effects of Caring for Grandchildren

The number of Americans raising grandchildren has been rising steadily. In this paper, we add to what is known about the implications of this trend by focusing on the economic effects of raising a grandchild. We make use of a unique data set compiled from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics along with its Parent Identification File. Using this nationally representative sample of 3,240 grandparents who are heads of households, we estimate the effect of taking in a grandchild on a grandparent's labor force participation and hours worked. We estimate ordinary and two-stage models that distinguishing between grandparents living only with grandchildren (skipped generation families) and those who also have taken in their own children (three-generation families). The results suggest that caring for grandchildren leads to greater attachment to the labor force, especially in skipped-generation families, for grandfathers, and among married grandparents.

Canadian First Nations Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: A Portrait in Resilience

Between 1991 and 2001, there was a 20% increase in the number of Canadian children under 18 years old who were living with their grandparents without a parent present in the home. Recent research revealed that Canadians of First Nations origin, including North American Indians, Métis, and Inuit, were vastly over-represented among grandparents raising grandchildren in skipped generation households (households which include only grandparents and grandchildren). Using custom tabulation data from the 1996 Canadian Census, this article presents a profile of First Nations Canadian grandparents raising grandchildren in skipped generation households. Despite extremely high rates of poverty and disability, one-third of First Nations Canadian skipped generation families were raising two or more grandchildren. In comparison to other grandparent caregivers, First Nations custodial caregivers were more likely to also be caring for a senior (23%) and to spend more than 30 hours a week on childcare duties (46%) and on housework (41%). Implications for policy, practice, and research are discussed.

Skipped Generation Families: Sources of Psychological Distress Among Grandmothers of Grandchildren Who Live in Homes Where Neither Parent Is Present

Today, more than at any period in U.S. history, more grandparents are raising their grandchildren. In many instances, the biological parents are absent from these grandparent-headed households for a variety of reasons. Although grandfathers and grandmothers both serve in the role of surrogate parents, grandparent caregiving can be seen as a “women's issue” when examined from the broader sociological context of gender. Using data from the National Survey of America's Families, this study examined factors associated with the frequency of feelings of psychosocial distress among grandmother caregivers of grandchildren in skipped generation families. Multivariate regression models indicate that for these grandmothers, being Black and living in the Midwest, having a family income below the poverty level, having Medicaid or SCHIP coverage, not receiving Welfare payments for childcare, and having a usual place for health care were all associated with more frequent feelings of psychosocial distress. On the other hand, being married, receiving social services help with childcare, grandmother's perception of less parenting burden, and living below poverty in the Midwest were associated with less frequent feelings of psychosocial distress.

Health insurance and family structure: the case of adolescents in skipped-generation families.

Since 1970, both the number and proportion of children being parented by a grandparent without the help of a parent has increased substantially. The increase in skipped-generation households has generated much concern from policy makers because such households are, on average, disadvantaged compared with most other household types. One important challenge facing grandparents with parenting responsibilities is securing health insurance for their dependent grandchildren. In this study, the authors investigate the extent to which grandparents raising their grandchildren were able to secure health insurance for their dependent grandchildren. They find that adolescents living in skipped-generation families in 1995 were more often uninsured, more often publicly insured, and less often privately insured compared with adolescents in other family types. Even after controlling for income, work status, and education, adolescents in skipped-generation families were still more likely to have public insurance and less likely to have private insurance compared with other adolescents.