Economic Resources Shaping Grandparent Responsibility Within Three-Generation Households

The purpose of this descriptive study was to explore factors associated with perceptions of grandparent responsibility for grandchildren in three-generation households, focusing especially on a comparison of grandparents’ and parents’ financial contributions to the household and ethnicity of grandparent(s). The analysis used information about three-generation families in the 2011–2015 American Community Survey, retrieved through the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series. In 30% of these families, grandparents said they were “primarily responsible” for the grandchildren, even though the child’s parent was also in the household. Logistic regression models showed that grandparents who contributed a larger share of household income and grandparents who were householders were significantly more likely to report being primarily responsible for grandchildren in three-generation households, suggesting that the distribution of financial resources (or resource balance) within the household was associated with perceptions of responsibility. However, grandparents’ race and ethnicity moderated this association, indicating that cultural norms may intersect with resources in shaping these reports. The findings suggest that perceived responsibilities of grandparents in three-generation households may be shaped by the balance of financial resources among household members, but also by cultural norms of grandparenting.