WASHINGTON (AP) — America is swiftly
becoming a granny state.
Less frail and more involved, today's
grandparents are shunning retirement homes and stepping in more than ever to
raise grandchildren while young adults struggle in the poor economy.
The newer grandparents are mainly
baby boomers who are still working, with greater disposable income. Now making
up 1 in 4 adults, grandparents are growing at twice the rate of the overall
population and sticking close to family — if their grandkids aren't already
living with them.
Grandparents in recent decades have
often filled in for absent parents who were ill or battled addiction, or were
sent to prison. The latest trend of grandparent involvement, reflected in
census figures released Thursday, is now being driven also by the economy and
the graying U.S. population, including the 78 million boomers born between 1946
and 1964 who began turning 65 this year.
"We help out in terms of running
errands, babysitting, taking the grandkids to doctors' appointments, and for
back-to-school shopping," said Doug Flockhart of Exeter, N.H., listing
some of the activities that he and his wife, Eileen, do for their five kids and
seven grandchildren. But that's just the start.
They also pitch in with health care
payments for family members due to insurance gaps, and their pace of activity
has picked up substantially since their daughter, who lives three blocks away,
gave birth to her first child this month. Flockhart, a retired architect, likes
the family time even if he and his wife worry about their grandkids' futures.
Their oldest grandchild is 16.
"It's not so much the day in and
day out, it's the big picture as to how these young kids will grow up and pay
for a college education and buy a house," he said. "The middle class
is so much less well-off than it used to be. We've put aside some savings for
them, but with seven grandchildren it can only go so far."
Flockhart's situation is increasingly
common, demographers say.
"Grandparents have become the
family safety net, and I don't see that changing any time soon," said Amy
Goyer, a family expert at AARP. "While they will continue to enjoy their
traditional roles, including spending on gifts for grandchildren, I see them
increasingly paying for the extras that parents are struggling to keep up with
— sports, camps, tutoring or other educational needs, such as music lessons."
The latest numbers are based partly
on separate analyses by Goyer and Peter Francese, founder of American
Demographics magazine who is now a population analyst for the MetLife Mature
Market Institute. Their data were supplemented with the latest 2010 census figures
as well as interviews with Census Bureau and other experts.
Currently about 5.8 million children,
or nearly 8 percent of all children, are living with grandparents identified as
the head of household, according to 50-state census data released Thursday.
That's up from 4.5 million, or 6.3 percent, who lived in such households in
2000.
Much of the increase in grandparent
caregivers occurred later in the decade after the recession eliminated jobs for
many younger people, surveys indicate. The 8 percent share of children now
living with grandparents is the largest in at least 40 years — and it is
believed to be the largest share ever, the population experts say.
In all, there are 62.8 million
grandparents in the U.S., the most ever. They are projected to make up roughly
1 in 3 adults by 2020.
Nearly half the states had increases
of 40 percent or more over the last decade in the number of grandchildren
living with grandparents. They were led by states such as Nevada, Utah, Idaho,
Wyoming, Arizona and Kentucky, which had influxes of young families or suffered
higher rates of poverty.
On the other end of the scale, New
Jersey, New York, Michigan and Louisiana saw the smallest increases, less than
10 percent. Each of those states saw slower population growth overall since
2000, particularly among young people.
The District of Columbia posted a
decline of more than 20 percent in grandchildren living with grandparents, a
sign of growing gentrification in the nation's capital in which smaller-sized
white families are replacing black families with grandparent caregivers, who are moving to
suburban areas.
Francese says the stereotype of
grandparents who are frail, receding and dependent is changing. He noted that
unemployment among workers ages 25 to 34 last year was double that of Americans
aged 55 to 64. U.S. households headed by baby boomers also commanded almost
half of the nation's total household income, and are more likely to be college
graduates than grandparents in previous generations.
These grandparents reject living in
senior communities in favor of "aging in place" in their own homes,
near family. In 2009, households ages 55 or older spent billions of dollars on
infant food, clothes, toys, games, tuition and supplies for grandchildren, according
to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
"Grandparents are supposed to be
old, gray-haired people tottering around, but the vast majority are actually in
the work force," said Francese, who released a paper on the topic last
month. "There is not much doubt that the recent recession has brought
grandparents and grandchildren together."
The government figures come as a
congressional supercommittee considers possible reductions to Medicare and
Social Security to achieve $1.5 trillion in federal spending cuts under the
terms of the debt ceiling agreement. Up until now, lawmakers' proposals to cut
the entitlement programs have met resistance from older Americans, including
those 45 and older, who now make up a majority of the voting-age population.
The committee must issue its
recommendations by late November, with action by Congress before year's end, or
various parts of government will face automatic spending cuts.
Estella Hyde, 65, who lives near
Erie, Pa., said additional government aid — not spending cuts — would go a long
way for grandparents. She and her husband have raised their granddaughter, now
18, off and on since she was a year old, when Hyde's daughter-in-law at the
time said she didn't want the burden.
Eventually the Hydes were able to
adopt their granddaughter legally, which allowed her to have coverage under
their health plan, but only after the couple fought through red tape and paid
$10,000 in adoption fees. After a difficult childhood, her granddaughter will
attend college this fall.
"It never happens in a happy
situation where a son or daughter comes and says, 'I need you to raise a child
for me,'" said Hyde, a nursing professor who is now retired. "We were
very lucky, we were able to financially take care of her and support her. But
many grandparent caregivers need other sources of assistance."
In all, the states with the highest
shares of children living in households headed by grandparents are in the South
and West. They include Hawaii, Mississippi, Louisiana, New Mexico, South
Carolina and Texas, each with at least 1 in 10 children living in grandparent
households.
Among the states with high
concentrations of grandparents overall — regardless of their living arrangement
— are Maine, West Virginia, Florida, Pennsylvania, Iowa and New Hampshire, according
to some estimates.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
