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Caregiving
Special Focus

Solutions

To Your Caregiving Situations

Throughout Your Caregiving Years

(Each month, we take a closer look at an aspect of your caregiving experience. In September, we're taking a closer look at grandparents raising their grandchildren.)

Grandparents Raising Grandchildren

In times of crisis, you step in

It used to be, years ago, we married and raised a family in the same neighborhood we were raised. We helped care for each other's children and aging relatives because family lived next door, around the corner or down the block. We left home, but we never left the neighborhood. Caregiving, for children and aging relatives, was a common activity in the neighborhood.

   Then, technology created worldwide opportunities. Not only did we leave the home, but we also left the neighborhood. Our families became scattered across the country, even the continent. We left home, we left the neighborhood, in some regards, we left the family. We all thought: You can't go home again.

   But, as they say, life happened. We married, divorced and moved back home with the folks, as I did. (I actually ran the early years of this business from the corner of my bedroom in my folks' house.) We graduated from college, went out to find our dream job and fortunes and then found ourselves laid off and out-of-luck, so back home we went. The empty nesters soon found their home full again, but this time of adult children.

   Now, we're in the midst of another phenomena. Your children may not move back home with you—but their children do. Grandparents raising grandchildren occurs for a variety of reasons: the death of the parents; the poor financial situation of the parents; the drug and alcohol abuse of the parents; poor life choices of the parents; a parent's mental illness. And, the phenomena is not selective in terms of the socioeconomic or ethnic group in which it occurs: According to statistics, grandparent-headed households occur in every socioeconomic and ethnic group. According the 2000 Census, 6.3% of U.S. children live in a grandparent household; about one-third of these children have no parent present in the grandparent-headed household.

   The impact on the grandparents and the grandchildren can be dramatic—in both positive and negative ways. In this month's special focus, we introduce you to two grandmothers raising grandchildren, as they also care for aging parents. And, we'll share resources that can help you if you find yourself in this situation.

Index of Articles

A hard life now a good life for a special grandson

Nine-year-old, 79-year-old keep the place hopping

Resources that can help

Tips and Figures

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