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Parents Like Me! > Facts & figures

Figures first

Grandcaring is an increasing phenomenon involving a Photo of Grandparentsignificant number of families worldwide. The most often cited and strongest evidence of this originates from the United States, where the majority of the research has been conducted, and where grandparent-headed households have been counted separately in official statistical reports for over a decade. Unfortunately, to-date, there is little consistent information regarding the number and demographic characteristics of Australian Grandfamilies, nor their experiences.

The Australian Context
Figures from the 2003 National Survey of Family Characteristics suggested that 22,500 Australian grandparents provided full-time parental care for 31,100 grandchildren at the time of survey (Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS], 2004).   Data from the 2006-07 Family Characteristics and Transitions Survey, however, suggests a major downward shift has occurred and that there are now only 14,000 grandparents who are the guardians or main carers of co-resident children (ABS, 2008). This is a dramatic decrease and one that is contrary to the perceptions of local Grandcarer groups and evidence from other data sources.

For example, data from child protection sources estimate that the number of children and young people in relative foster care has increased from 8,069 (or 40% of children in out-of-home care) in 2003/2004 to 12,499 (or 43.9% of children in out-of-home care) in 2006/2007 (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare [AIHW], 2004; 2005; 2006).  These sources also suggest that this change reflects not only an increase in the numbers of children in out-of-home care, but also a substantial shift toward relative foster care in preference to all other forms of out-of-home care.

Warning: While it appears we know exactly how many Grandfamilies exist in Australia, it should be noted that the actual extent is unclear because the ABS data-set, on which the estimates are based, have a large error rate of between 25% to 50% for all the states and territories, except for Queensland and New South Wales. This estimation error occurs because the number of Grandcarers who were actually surveyed was very small.

Another problem with the figures is that Australian child protection data sources do not distinguish Grandcarers from other relatives who provide full-time parental care of children. This means it is not actually known how many of the relative foster families in contact with the welfare system are grandparent-headed. But, perhaps of greater importance, there is limited data collected for and about relative foster care families. Indeed, in most states, relative foster care placements, which include foster care provided by grandparents, are not subject to the same assessment and monitoring requirements as other types of out-of-home care. Further still, relative carers have tended to be excluded from Australian research.

In practical terms the lack of information means that a large proportion of families who are caring for children because of mental illness, drug addiction or related problems in the biological parent(s) are invisible.  Moreover, the lack of specificity and scope in the available child protection data means that, unlike the situation with non-relative foster carers, there is minimal information regarding the quality and safe care of children who live with relatives. It also means there is no specific information about how well grandparent or other relative carers are coping with their caring responsibilities.

Australian Grandcarers
While it has now been recognised that grandparent-headed families are an increasingly important element of Australian family life, there is limited information available regarding the characteristics of Grandcarers and Grandfamilies. The following table outlines the extent of the statistical information collected on Australian Grandcarers: Grandparents who Parent their Grandchildren Full-time.

 

Characteristic

National Survey (ABS, 2004)

Agency Sample
(Horner, et al, 2004)

Age of grandparents - %

35-54 years

38.7

34.8

55 years+
- 56-65 years
- 66-75 years

61.3
-
-

65.2
34.8
30.4

Age of grandchildren - %

0-4 years

14.8

13.8

5-11 years

37.4

44.8

12-14 years

35.8

34.5

15-17 years

12.1

6.9

Number of grandchildren - %

1 or 2

89%

40%

3 +

11%

60%

Marital status - %

Lone grandparent

47.0

17.3

Grandparent couple

53.0

82.6

Employment status - %

Paid employment
- Full-time
- Part-time

33.8
-
-

13.6
9.1
4.5

Not employed
- Retired
- Home-duties

66.2
-
-

86.4
40.9
45.5

Main source of income - %

Government pension, benefit or allowance

63.0

60.0

Other
- Child support (parents)
- Govt. plus other
- Paid employment

37.0
-
-
-

40.0
6.7
13.3
20.0

Income - %

≤ $20,000

-

42.9

$20,000 to $30,000

-

21.4

³$30,000

-

35.7

Residence - %

Own home

80.0

80.0

Rental

20.0

20.0

 

Facts second  (The Impact!)

While there is important evidence that suggests Grandcarers experience positive aspects to their role, the balance of research evidence suggests that, for many grandparents, the stresses and strains attached to their parenting role tend to outweigh and overwhelm the satisfying and rewarding feelings that also come with having their grandchildren safe in their home.

Indeed, research from the US has revealed that assuming full-time parenting responsibilities for grandchildren is associated with a number of negative outcomes for a significant number of Grandcarers, particularly for single grandparents and grandparents from ethnic minority groups. That is, the research indicates that the full-time parenting of grandchildren has been associated with increased psychological distress, poorer physical health, and lower social support and material resources in both grandmothers and grandfathers, as compared to normative or community samples of their peers. More specifically, information drawn together from over a decade of national surveys in the US has suggested that Grandcarers are significantly more likely to report limitations in activities and functions of daily living, live below the poverty line, and are almost twice as likely to report clinically relevant levels of depression as compared to their peers.

Research using interviews and focus groups, in both the US and Australia, has served to support the survey findings and graphically highlight the personal and familial impact of parenting grandchildren. This research also suggests, however, that there are both similarities and differences in the experiences of Grandfamilies internationally. For example, the accumulating bulk of qualitative research, whose focus is Grandfamilies, emphasise the impact the type of caregiving arrangement (i.e., legal authority) has on grandparents’ ability to enact the parental role when trying to access financial, legal, psychological and social services. However, unlike the US, the qualitative research reports commissioned by Australian agencies consistently describe difficulties in reconciling daily parenting responsibilities with individual and societal expectations of the grandparent role, as well as the impact of dealing with systems that are substantially different from those of their earlier parenting period. Australian research also reveals that a substantial number of Grandcarers lose the support of their family network and friends because of their changed circumstances. Research from the US and Australia also emphasises that, for a large number of grandparents, coping with their grandchildren’s medical, mental health, developmental or behavioural problems appears to compound stress from other sources and contributes to social isolation.

While these findings are suggestive of substantial similarity in the experiences of grandparent-headed families in Australia and the US, they also suggest that there are some areas of difference. Importantly, because of the limited Australian research it is not known why there are differences. It could be speculated that they are most probably due to the much lower percentage of grandparents of Caucasian heritage providing care in the US than found in the Australian samples. Indeed, information from Australian child protection data sources suggests Indigenous Grandcarers are substantially under-represented in the present research.  Regardless, the differences warn that the data from the US may not directly generalise to the Australian context.  Thus, it is clear that Australian research, policy and practice need to identify and understand the specific issues and challenges associated with this alternate family structure.

Australian research has reported that children in out-of-home care are significantly more likely to have medical, mental health and/or developmental problems than their peers who are not in care (Tarren-Sweeney & Hazell, 2006). US data also suggests that children in kinship foster care (e.g. registered foster care) are estimated to be two to three times more likely to have physical, mental health, medical or behavioural problems that limit activities than children in private kinship care (e.g. informal care) (Swann & Sylvester, 2006; Vig, Chinitz, & Shulman, 2005).