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CHAPTER FIVE SUPPORT FROM THE CHILD'S GRANDPARENTS
5.1 Research has repeatedly shown that grandparents are a key source of childcare for many parents and that grandparents often step into parenting roles when parents are unable to care for their children for whatever reason (Gray et al, 2005; Smith, 2005; Gray, 2005; Dench et al, 1999). Grandparents are also widely acknowledged as a key source of informal support for parents, especially for parents of young children.
5.2 This paper has already explored the extent to which grandparents are available as a source of informal support for families (see chapter 3). To measure the extent and type of support offered by the child's grandparents, respondents were asked a series of questions about how often the child's grandparents babysat, had the child to stay overnight, took the child out, bought toys or clothes for the child, helped out around the house and helped out financially. The results are displayed in Table 12.
Table 12 Nature and frequency of support from child's grandparents by cohort
Nature and frequency of support | Cohort |
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Birth % | Child % |
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Look after the child for an hour or more during the day | | |
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At least once a week or more often | 57.0 | 57.6 |
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At least once a month | 13.9 | 12.0 |
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At least once every three months or less often | 9.7 | 10.1 |
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Never | 19.5 | 20.4 |
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Babysit for the child during the evening | | |
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At least once a week or more often | 18.3 | 18.8 |
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At least once a month | 28.4 | 26.9 |
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At least once every three months or less often | 23.0 | 26.1 |
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Never | 30.2 | 28.2 |
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Have the child to stay overnight | | |
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At least once a week or more often | 12.8 | 13.4 |
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At least once a month | 16.0 | 18.7 |
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At least once every three months or less often | 20.4 | 27.3 |
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Never | 50.8 | 40.5 |
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Take the child on outings or daytrips | | |
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At least once a week or more often | 21.8 | 22.2 |
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At least once a month | 17.9 | 22.7 |
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At least once every three months or less often | 13.9 | 22.6 |
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Never | 46.4 | 32.5 |
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Buy toys, clothes or equipment for the child apart from on special occasions like birthdays | | |
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At least once a week or more often | 23.2 | 21.3 |
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At least once a month | 40.4 | 36.6 |
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At least once every three months or less often | 26.1 | 28.3 |
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Never | 10.2 | 13.8 |
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Help out around the house - for example by cooking, cleaning or doing DIY | | |
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At least once a week or more often | 17.7 | 15.6 |
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At least once a month | 11.3 | 8.1 |
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At least once every three months or less often | 15.1 | 17.5 |
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Never | 56.0 | 58.8 |
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Help out financially in some other way | | |
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At least once a week or more often | 6.5 | 5.6 |
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At least once a month | 9.9 | 9.1 |
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At least once every three months or less often | 24.4 | 25.0 |
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Never | 59.2 | 60.2 |
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Bases | | |
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Weighted | 5203 | 2840 |
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Unweighted | 5203 | 2840 |
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5.3 To allow a broader examination of how the level of support from grandparents varied across the sample, each item was converted into a binary variable 8 and all items added together to give an overall index of the 'variety' of grandparental support. A higher score on the index indicated that grandparents offered a wider range of support. Scores on the index ranged from a potential minimum of 0 to a potential maximum of 7. The spread of scores by cohort is illustrated in Table 13.
Table 13 Score on 'variety' of grandparent support index by cohort
Base: All children
Score | Sample Type |
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Birth | Child |
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% | % |
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0 | 5.1 | 6.5 |
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1 | 6.3 | 5.6 |
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2 | 8.3 | 6.5 |
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3 | 11.4 | 8.6 |
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4 | 16.5 | 12.9 |
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5 | 22.6 | 23.1 |
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6 | 17.3 | 23.9 |
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7 | 12.5 | 12.9 |
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Bases | | |
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Weighted | 5179 | 2823 |
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Unweighted | 5180 | 2825 |
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5.4 Scores on the index show that almost all families in both cohorts were receiving some type of help or support from the child's grandparents and many were receiving the full range of support. Around one-third of families in each cohort scored 6 or 7 on the scale indicating that the child's grandparents provided all, or almost all, types of help and support considered (30% in birth cohort, 37% in child cohort).
5.5 To examine more closely any significant variance in the levels of grandparental support used by different families, respondents were separated into three groups according to their score on the index indicating a low (score 0-2), medium (score 3-5) or high (score 6 or 7) level of support provided by grandparents. Logistic regression was then undertaken to explore factors which influenced both a high and low level of support from the child's grandparents. Table 14 summarises the key independent variables which emerged from the regression. 9
Table 14 Scaled use of grandparental support by key independent variables: birth cohort
Base: Children in the birth cohort
Row percentages
| Low use | Medium use | High use | Bases |
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% | % | % | Weighted | Unweighted |
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All | 20 | 51 | 30 | 5179 | 5180 |
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No. of grandparents alive | | | | | |
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Up to 2 | 40 | 41 | 19 | 701 | 705 |
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3 or 4 | 17 | 52 | 31 | 4256 | 4254 |
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More than 4 | 12 | 53 | 36 | 223 | 221 |
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Proximity of grandparents | | | | | |
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All grandparents live within 30 mins | 13 | 52 | 35 | 2484 | 2463 |
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Some grandparents live within 30 mins | 17 | 54 | 29 | 1909 | 1902 |
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No grandparents live within 30 mins | 43 | 40 | 17 | 754 | 781 |
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Grandparents in the household | | | | | |
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No grandparents in household | 21 | 52 | 27 | 4856 | 4884 |
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At least one grandparent in household | 2 | 25 | 73 | 323 | 296 |
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Number of adults in the household | | | | | |
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Single adult household | 19 | 43 | 38 | 744 | 692 |
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Multiple adult household | 20 | 52 | 28 | 4435 | 4488 |
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Parity | | | | | |
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Sample child is first born | 14 | 50 | 36 | 2589 | 2535 |
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Had other children already | 25 | 51 | 24 | 2591 | 2645 |
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Equivalised annual household income | | | | | |
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Less than £8410 | 21 | 41 | 38 | 986 | 916 |
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Between £8411 and £13,750 | 25 | 49 | 27 | 966 | 950 |
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Between £13,751 and £21,785 | 17 | 51 | 31 | 843 | 855 |
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Between £21,786 and £33, 571 | 16 | 57 | 27 | 978 | 1011 |
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More than £33,572 | 16 | 58 | 26 | 866 | 919 |
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Mother's education | | | | | |
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Higher grade or above | 18 | 53 | 29 | 3705 | 3772 |
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Standard grade or equivalent | 18 | 47 | 35 | 970 | 933 |
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No qualifications | 36 | 42 | 22 | 493 | 464 |
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Mother's employment | | | | | |
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Employed full-time | 19 | 53 | 28 | 788 | 811 |
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Employed part-time | 14 | 54 | 33 | 2220 | 2265 |
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Unemployed | 26 | 47 | 27 | 2164 | 2097 |
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Age of mother at birth of sample child | | | | | |
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Under 20 | 8 | 35 | 57 | 401 | 347 |
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20 - 29 | 15 | 49 | 36 | 2172 | 2081 |
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30 - 39 | 23 | 56 | 21 | 2430 | 2563 |
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40 or older | 53 | 35 | 11 | 175 | 188 |
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5.6 The results suggest that a low level of grandparental support is primarily related to three broader factors - the availability and accessibility of grandparents as a resource, the need to use grandparents as a resource, and the availability of other forms of adult support. Having a greater number of grandparents alive and having some or all of those grandparents living relatively close by, or indeed in the household, both increased the likelihood of receiving higher grandparental support. Higher use of grandparents amongst younger mothers and those on low incomes supports earlier findings from chapter four where the data indicated that child's grandparents were usually the main, and only, informal source of support for parents in these groups.
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