ABSTRACT
This chapter characterizes the experiences of grandparents in the United States (US) along a number of dimensions, which reflected the theme of diversity in American families. Many aspects of grandparenthood in the US reflect the diversity along demographic, financial, social, and educational parameters that characterizes American families. Grandparents in poorer health may be viewed differently by grandchildren who expect grandparents to be physically active or have the resources to travel. Race and ethnicity clearly do influence grandparenthood. Grandparent caregiving is usually linked to the divorce, drug use, incarceration, job loss, teenage pregnancy, or death of the adult child, as well as to the abandonment or abuse of the grandchild. Many of today's older lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) adults had children through previous heterosexual relationships, and as younger cohorts of LGB individuals continue to have biological or adoptive children, LGB grandparenting may become more prominent.
