How does providing care for grandchildren impact on the health and wellbeing of grandparents? This is a question raised by a new report supported by us in partnership with the Economic and Social Research Council and the Beth Johnson Foundation. This report is the most recent in a series of research reports on Grandparenting in Europe based on a four year collaboration. The new research, led by Grandparents Plus and conducted by the Institute of Gerontology at King’s College London, is a major international study of grandparents in ten European countries and investigates the role of cumulative advantage and disadvantage surrounding the health and wellbeing of grandparents caring for grandchildren.

According to the research:

Grandparents who look after grandchildren for up to 15 hours a week tend to be in better health than grandparents who provide no grandchild care, even when prior health and socio-economic background are taken into account. Grandparents who live with grandchildren, whether in three-generation households or raising grandchildren themselves, have the poorest health – although this poor health predates living with grandchildren.

Sam Smethers, Chief Executive of Grandparents Plus, said: ‘The study shows that looking after your grandchildren is good for your health and wellbeing. It also shows that providing childcare is part of most grandparents’ lives’.

Although grandparents who provide more intensive care – at least 15 hours a week or daily – tend to have poorer health and are more likely to be depressed, this is linked to their previous health rather than an effect of looking after grandchildren.

This study is important in that understanding the health and wellbeing impact of engagement in childcare on older people provides important evidence to enable policy makers across Europe to ensure that the role of grandparents in children’s lives is better supported and any deleterious effects on health are minimised.

Grandparents plus is calling for better support for grandparents who are raising their grandchildren because of serious family problems, including the same rights to paid time off work as adoptive parents and more support for the children they are bringing up.

The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (UK Branch), in recognising that promoting the health and wellbeing of older people is a critical policy issue as the population ages, supports this research and recommends its findings.

Click here to read the full report.

For more information on the report’s findings, please visit the Grandparents Plus website here.