Census tracks grandparents raising grandchildren_111003

Posted: 11/07/03

Census tracks grandparents raising grandchildren

ALEXANDRIA, Va.–Nearly 6 million grandparents live in the same household with their grandchildren in the United States, and 40 percent of those grandparents are the primary caregivers for their grandchildren.

The data, based on the 2000 Census, was released by the Census Bureau at a Generations United Conference in Alexandria, Va.

One-third of grandparent caregivers live in “skipped generation” households where neither parent of the grandchildren is present.

The report, “Grandparents Living With Grandchildren: 2000,” shows the 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 live in poverty also is shown.

Among the report's highlights:

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.

Racial and ethnic differences in grandparent coresidence and caregiving were prominent. Although the majority of grandparents living with grandchildren were non-Hispanic white (2.7 million), they comprised only 2 percent of the non-Hispanic white population age 30 and over. By comparison, 6 percent to 10 percent of other racial and ethnic groups lived with their grandchildren.

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 (16 percent) and the Midwest (15 percent).