One-third of grandparent caregivers lived in "skipped generation" households where neither parent of the grandchild was present, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report released this month. The report is based on Census 2000 data. The Census Bureau released the report at the 12th Generations United International Conferenceon noting nearly 6 million grandparents lived with their grandchildren under age 18 in 2000.
Of the grandparents living with their grandchildren, more than 40 percent were the grandchildren's primary caregivers. The report, Grandparents Living With Grandchildren: 2000, includes geographic distribution of grandparents living with grandchildren and serving as caregivers, as well as the length of time the grandparents cared for the grandchildren. The percentage of grandparent caregivers who lived in poverty also is shown.
Some highlights from the report:
* Almost all grandparents responsible for grandchildren were either the householder or the householder's spouse (94 percent).
* Coresident grandparents younger than 60 were more likely to be grandparent caregivers than were grandparents age 60 and over - 50 percent and 31 percent, respectively.
* Racial and ethnic differences in grandparent coresidence and caregiving were prominent.
* Nineteen percent of grandparent caregivers were living in poverty in 1999. The highest proportion of grandparent caregivers in poverty was in the South (21 percent), and the lowest proportions were in the West and the Midwest (16 percent and 15 percent, respectively).
The data are based on responses from the sample of households that received the census long form, about 1-in-6 nationally, and are subject to sampling and non sampling error.
© 2012 Created by Myles Bristowe.
