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TWU Professor Notes Changing Role of Grandparents
TWU Professor Notes Changing Role of Grandparents
8/27/02
Note: National Grandparents Day is Sept. 8, 2002
DENTON — The image of a gray-haired grandmother baking
cookies for her visiting grandchildren may be a thing of the
past.
Many of today's grandparents have become full-time caregivers
for their grandchildren. A Texas Woman's University professor
says dealing with the changes inherent in these situations can be
stressful for those who don't know where to turn for help.
Dr. Lillian Chenoweth, a TWU professor of family studies, said
the role of a grandparent traditionally is more relaxed than that
of a parent.
“The traditional role of grandparents is that they don't
enforce the rules,” she said. “They `spoil' their
grandchildren.”
When grandparents take on a parental role, Chenoweth said,
they have to establish different boundaries and be aware of
age-appropriate behavior. If they have assumed full-time care for
their grandchildren, they may have questions about their legal
rights as well as financial issues, she said.
Chenoweth deals with parent education in her family studies
classes, but said little attention has been paid to grandparent
education. Her interest in the subject led to her writing a
chapter in the book “Grandparents raising grandchildren:
Theoretical, empirical, and clinical perspectives,” (B.
Hayslip and R. Goldberg-Glen, Eds., 2000).
Chenoweth said the number of grandparent-headed households
increased sharply about 10 years ago and has become widespread,
crossing all ethnic and socioeconomic levels. While some
grandparents have taken on the parental role by choice, she said,
circumstances have led others to take their grandchildren into
their homes. A typical scenario involves grandparents taking over
the parental role because the parent is having problems,
Chenoweth said.
Many people assume that, having already reared children, the
grandparent is more than capable of rearing a grandchild.
However, Chenoweth said, grandparents in these situations must
deal with their own issues as well as the child's.
The child often is uprooted — sometimes to another town
or even another state — and must adjust to a new home and a
new school. Younger grandparents may still have full-time jobs,
while others may have been looking forward to retirement and
traveling.
Some grandparents have difficulty dealing with their emotions
as well as the situation itself, but are unwilling to reach out,
Chenoweth said. “They think asking for help is a sign of
weakness, but I believe it is a sign of strength,” she said.
As more attention is paid to the number of grandparent-headed
households, more agencies are offering support. The American
Association of Retired Persons (AARP) Web site,
www.aarp.org/grandparents, offers a wealth of information and
resources for grandparents who are rearing their grandchildren.
Chenoweth said there are advantages to grandparent-headed
households. “The grandparents feel needed, the child feels
loved, and it creates a special bond between them,” she
said. She stressed that it can work, if resources and support are
available. Though she said society has not done a lot to help
grandparents in these situations, she believes that will change
as the issue gains attention.
“I believe we will begin to focus more on their unique
needs,” she said.
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SIDEBAR
The AARP Web site, www.aarp.org/grandparents,
provides the following statistics on grandparent-headed
households:
- 4.5 million children under age 18 are growing up in
grandparent-headed households. Approximately one-third of
these children have no parent present in the home.
- The number of children in grandparent-headed households
has increased 30 percent since 1990.
- In Texas, the number of children younger than 18 living
in grandparent-headed households increased 44.1 percent
from the 1990 Census to Census 2000. Texas ranks 15th
out of the 50 states in the percentage change during
those years.
- The majority of grandparents rearing grandchildren are
between ages 55 and 64. Approximately 20 to 25 percent
are 65 or older.
- While grandparent-headed families cross all
socio-economic levels, these grandparents are more likely
to live in poverty than are other grandparents.
- There are eight times more children in grandparent-headed
homes than in the foster care system.
For Further Information Contact:
Karen Treat
Senior Copywriter
Tel: (940) 898-3456
e-mail: ktreat@twu.edu
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