The Role of Grandparents in the Lives of Children

Rachel Dunifon, Cornell University
Ashish Bajracharya, Cornell University

This study seeks to better understand the role of grandparents in the lives of adolescent grandchildren by addressing the following questions: 1) What are the implications of grandparent involvement for children? 2) What factors mediate and moderate the influence of grandparents on grandchildren? We use data from the National Survey of Families and Households, which contains reports from three generations within a family—grandparents, parents and children, as well as extensive measures of grandparent involvement that include the provision of financial assistance, emotional closeness, frequency of contact, and co-residence with grandchildren. Results will shed light on an understudied, but potentially important, source of influence on children.