Outline of presentation

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Grandparenting in Europe

Anthea Tinker on behalf of Karen Glaser, Deborah Price, Eloi Ribe Montserrat, Giorgio di Gessa and Rachel Stuchbury

King’s College London anthea.tinker@kcl.ac.uk Australia May 2013

Outline of presentation

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Outline of presentation The research study:1. Funder and timescale2. The objectives of the research3. The research questions 4. Findings

a) Grandparent characteristicsb) Living arrangementsc) Child cared) Policy

5. Conclusions

1. The research study – funder and timescale

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1. Funder and timescaleSupported by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation through Grandparents Plus and the Beth Johnson Foundation

Start April 2011/October 2011 – March 2013

Preliminary Findings Briefing June 2012

Final Report May 2013

2. The objective of the research

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2. The objectives of the research

To investigate variations across Europe in the diversity of grandparents, how grandparents contribute to childcare, and how policies are related to patterns of grandparenting.

3. The research questions

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3. The research questions 1. How do the living arrangements of

grandparents vary across European countries and how have they changed over time?

2. How do the characteristics of grandparents vary across 12 European states in terms of age, number of grandchildren, marital status, socio-economic status, participation in paid work, and well-being?

3. The research questions

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3. The research questions (ctd)3. How does the level of involvement of

grandparents with their grandchildren vary across Europe in terms of care? What characteristics of grandparents help to explain the diversity of care arrangements?

4. How do family policies interact with gender, family, care and labour market cultures and structures to shape the levels of involvement of grandparents with their grandchildren?

4a. Findings: Grandparent Characteristics

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How do the characteristics of grandparents vary across12 European countries? (e.g. age, number of grandchildren, marital status, socio-economic status, participation in paid work, and well-being)

Data SourcesData sourcesELSA (England) and SHARE – Austria, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, France, Denmark, Greece, Switzerland and Belgium.

Both surveys are based on people aged 50 and over are comparable.

% of older adults who are grandparents: 12 European States

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Source: SHARE, 2004/05; ELSA, 2002/03; own calculations. Weighted data.

Age profile grandparentsAge profile grandparentsConsiderable variation in %

grandparents who are of working age (i.e. 50-64 age group).

England relatively high percentage (41%) as France and the Scandinavian countries (e.g. Denmark 50%)

Southern European countries only one third.

Mean number of grandchildren

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•English grandparents also have more grandchildren than their European counterparts, with an average of nearly five (4.9) compared with an average across the other 11 countries of 4.2.

Source: SHARE, 2004/05; ELSA, 2002/03; own calculations. Weighted data.

% grandparents with at least one grandchild aged 0-2

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•Dutch grandparents most likely have grandchild < 3 followed by French, Danish and Swedish.

Source: SHARE, 2004/05; own calculations. Weighted data.

% grandparents in paid work

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Source: SHARE, 2004/05; ELSA, 2002/03; own calculations. Weighted data.

4b. Living Arrangements

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4a. Findings: Summary: who grandparents are

English grandparents are relatively young, more likely to be in paid work and have more grandchildren on average than grandparents in the remaining 11 European countries. One in four aged 50+ are in paid work compared with 1 in 7 across the other 11 studied. Only Denmark and Sweden have a higher % of working grandparents

4b. Living Arrangements

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4b. Findings: Living arrangements

Examine changes in living arrangements between grandparents and grandchildren over time (with or without the parents being present) in England & Wales, France, Germany, Portugal and Romania.

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Data SourcesTrends in prevalence of grandparent

householdsMultivariate analysis to investigate how

grandparent households vary across selected European countries and U.S.

Integrated Public Use Microdata Series International (IPUMS), the ONS Longitudinal Study for England & Wales, and the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP).

The Findings

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The findingsIncrease in prevalence over time in

skipped-generation households (no parents present)in England & Wales (as in U.S. But not in other European countries). This rose from 0.25% of adults aged 35 and over in 1981 to 0.42% in 2001.

Skipped-generation households much more likely to have older grandchild – raised by grandparents?

4c. Research Question

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4c: Findings: child careWhile overall grandparents in the European countries

provide high levels of childcare are striking variations in the intensity and frequency of care provided. In France, Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands between 50% and 60% of grandparents provide some childcare compared with 40% in the Southern European countries. However, regular and intensive grandchild care is more common in Southern Europe, with 20% of grandparents in Italy providing almost daily childcare compared with just 2% in then Netherlands

4c. Research Question

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4c: Findings: child careAcross the European countries studied,

grandparents who are younger, with higher educational levels, in better health, and whose youngest grandchild is under age six are more likely to provide childcare

4c. Research Question

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4d: Findings: policyTo what extent are national patterns in the

demography of (non-co-residential) grandparental care influenced by family policy at national level?

What difference does the nation state make?

What is it about the nation state that makes a

difference?

Indicators

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GRANDPARENTAL CHILDCAREGRANDPARENTAL CHILDCARE

Method

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In countries such as Sweden and Denmark (and to a lesser extent France) parents are expected to work full time, formal childcare is widely available and there is generous maternity pay and support for mothers who stay at home. In these countries grandmothers play a far more limited role in providing intensive childcare, but are still significantly involved in providing occasional and less intensive care for grandchildren

Method

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In Portugal, Spain, Italy and Romania, where welfare payments to parents and mothers at home are limited and there is little formal childcare and few opportunities for mothers to work part-time, grandparents provide a good deal of intensive childcare. Also in these countries mothers who do work often do so for 40+ hours per week, and since there is little affordable childcare, there is greater reliance on intensive childcare by grandmothers. With the exception of Romania, in these countries there is less of a role for grandparents providing occasional or less intensive care without the parents present

Method

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In the UK, Germany and the Netherlands, public support for families is less universal, and childcare coverage is patchy and often provided by the market rather than the state, and the norm is that women work part time. Here grandparents play a middling role in both intensive childcare and occasional/less intensive childcare. In these countries, a smaller proportion of those mothers in full time work do so for long hours, leading to less reliance on intensive childcare by grandmothers. In the Netherlands, which has by far the highest proportion of mothers working part time and very few mothers working full time and where formal childcare is widespread, there is very little intensive childcare by grandparents.

Grandparenting policy regimes

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No assumption of grandparental care(Denmark, Sweden and to a lesser extent France)

Grandparental care is assumed (explicit or implicit): (Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Romania and Spain)

State policies are neutral(Germany, Netherlands, UK)

But policy matrix is not the only factor

Findings - Multivariate

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5. ConclusionsThere is need both an understanding of

demographic, policy, cultural-structural factors to explain variations in national patterns of grandparent childcare.

Findings - Multivariate

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5. ConclusionsYounger grandmothers who are fit, healthy and with

younger grandchildren – the most likely to be providing childcare for their grandchildren – are the very women who governments across Europe are aiming to encourage to stay in paid work for longer in order to increase productivity and pay for their pensions, health and social care in later life. Their vital but invisible role in providing childcare, whether intensive, regular and/or occasional, is likely to conflict with their own ability to self finance their own old age, especially as widow’s benefits in both state and employers pensions are eroded.

Findings - Multivariate

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5. ConclusionsGiven that grandmothers aged 50 to 69 who

are not in paid work are the most likely to provide childcare, the plans of European governments to extend retirement ages and increase female labour force participation at older ages are likely to conflict with grandparents role in providing childcare. This will have significant implications for labour market participation by younger mothers, and for pension acquisition and the financial security of mid-life women.

Metadata

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Will be published as a web resource (2013)Compares eleven widely differing European

countries on over 100 indicators at a single point in time [2008]

Each country has three Excel ‘books’, one for each set of indicators (policy, family & gender, labour force)

+ Tables of cross-eleven-country analyses

Summaries of policies will be in the report, and some comparative tables

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