ABSTRACT
Grandparenting varies dramatically in the United States. Some grandparents provide little to no care, while others provide around-the-clock grandchild care. This chapter discusses the extent of grandparent care and how it varies by gender, race, and class. To understand why grandparents in the United States provide more care than in many other developed countries, the authors explore how the lack of federal policies for paid vacation, paid sick leave, paid parental leave, and affordable, high-quality child care prompts many families to turn to grandparents for help. The authors then examine how reliance on mostly poverty-based social welfare programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and Medicaid, shapes grandparent care work. Throughout this chapter, excerpts from in-depth interviews from Harrington Meyer (2014) and Harrington Meyer and Abdul-Malak (2020) illustrate how the lack of federal policies and the use of poverty-based social welfare programs shape grandparent care work.
