Scottish Government

Chapter five Grandparents

5.1 It has been long recognised that grandparents play an important part in the lives of their grandchildren. When a parental relationship breaks down, research evidence shows that grandparents can be particularly supportive to their grandchildren, and help to increase their resiliency through what is often a difficult time.

5.2 Recently in Scotland, pressure groups such as Grandparents Apart, have drawn attention to contact issues that arise for grandparents and grandchildren after separation, in particular, when children lose contact with their paternal grandparents. They have argued for the introduction into family law of a specific right of contact for grandparents following parental separation. In the course of earlier consultation in the family law reform process currently underway, the Scottish Executive concluded that while it did not propose to introduce a legal right of contact for grandparents, it recognised the value to children generally of promoting effective contact with their wider family, particularly when contact is voluntarily negotiated and takes children's views and interests into account (Scottish Parliament 2005 Memorandum, paras. 94-95).

5.3 Public attitudes to the role of grandparents, including experience of and the nature of contact between grandparents and grandchildren, together with views about the value of grandparents' contribution to bringing up children were examined on the 1998 British Social Attitude survey (Dench et al, 1999). But that study did not specifically examine views on the legal and moral responsibilities and rights of grandparents, nor was there a Scottish focus.

5.4 Here we present findings on public opinions about what grandparents responsibilities and rights should be and public knowledge about what they are, based on several scenarios raising different issues about contact and care when a parental relationship breaks down, as shown in Figure 5.1.

5.5 There is a widespread public view (92%) that supports giving paternal grandparents the same rights of contact with a child as a father, as Table 5.1 shows. This high level of agreement did not vary substantially when comparing respondents by age, sex, marital status and social class. There was not an opportunity to explore with respondents the considerable complexities that surround this issue, such as where parents and grandparents disagree about what is in a child's best interest as far as contact is concerned. Table 5.2 shows that most respondents (55%) correctly recognised that paternal grandparents do not have a right of contact. Thus it is recognised by a majority of respondents that grandparents do not have parental rights that most parents have. Of course, grandparents do not have parental responsibilities either. Whether they should have such responsibilities, in certain limited circumstances, was an issue we raised. We found that there is a widely held view, by 85% of respondents as in Table 5.3, that grandparents should also have a responsibility to provide a home for a young child if its parents are unable to do so and if they are able. Again, this did not vary substantially when comparing responses by marital status, social class or housing tenure. Respondents who were aged 25-39 and most likely to have young children, were less likely to state that grandparents should provide care in such circumstances. A substantial majority (71%) correctly knew that in such circumstances grandparents do not have this legal obligation.

Appreciation of grandparents

5.6 Respondents were asked to indicate whether or not they agreed with a set of statements about the role of grandparents in their grandchildren's lives. These are reported below and show that on several indicators there is widespread appreciation of the contributions that grandparents make to their grandchildren, as well as considerable feeling that their contributions are insufficiently valued by others.

• Grandparents have little to teach the grandchildren of today [GpsTeach].
• With so many working mothers, families need grandparents to help more and more [GpsHelp].
• Grandparents tend to interfere too much with the way their grandchildren are brought up [GpsIntfr].

• Many parents today do not appreciate the help that grandparents give [GpsApprc].
• People today don't place enough value on the part grandparents play in family life [GpsValue].
• In most families, grandparents should be closely involved in deciding how their grandchildren are brought up. [GpsInvol]