Child-Rearing by Grandparents on the Rise, Census Bureau Says

More than one in 20 children in the United States lived in homes headed by their grandparents in 1997, the Census Bureau says, putting increased pressure on older Americans to care for the young, even though some can barely afford it.

In its first-ever report on the topic, to be released today, the bureau noted that the social consequences for these children include a greater likelihood that they will be raised in poverty, lack health insurance and live in a household that receives public assistance.

In all, the study found that 7.7% of American children--about 5.5 million--lived with a grandparent. Three-quarters of those were in homes headed by grandparents, continuing a 30-year rise.

Analysts and advocates for children and older Americans said that the data reflect the expanding role now played by grandparents as primary care-givers for children--a position that, in many cases, strains their financial resources.

“Grandparents are the last safety net holding the family together,” said Donna Butts, executive director of Generations United, a Washington-based advocacy group.

The Census Bureau study said that the increase in the number of children in grandparent-headed households, from 4.9% in 1992 to 5.5% in 1997, was fueled chiefly by a jump in the number of families in which parents were absent--so-called “skipped generation” arrangements.

By retirement, many grandparents consider themselves finished with child rearing, so the costs of housing, feeding and clothing their grandchildren often are an unexpected burden, experts said. For older Americans living on fixed incomes, these extra costs can plunge them into financial distress.

In particular, single grandmothers who head households are at risk of being impoverished. About 60% who are raising children alone are poor, according to the study, and 25% are poor even in households where parents are present, according to the report.

Analysts said that the increase in the number of children living only with their grandparents can be attributed to a range of factors, from drug use and divorce to incarceration and AIDS-related deaths.

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