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The vital role of grandparents explored from China to Ireland

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Date published: 
Monday, July 12, 2010
News source: 
CARDI-Nicola Donnelly
Region: 
Republic of Ireland
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The role of grandparents in society is often underestimated. A recent report in the UK found that the care giving contribution they make to family, social and economic life is often not fully recognised. Last week a report published by Family Resource Centre National Forum and Family Support Agency underlined the increasing role Irish grandparents are playing in caring for children. Ageing within the familial context and the important role of grandparents in society were the topics of a recent seminar hosted by the School of Social Work and Social Policy, Trinity College Dublin and the Living with Dementia Programme.Nicola Donnelly, CARDI Communications Officer reports:

The seminar featured Merril Silverstein Phd, Professor of Gerontology and Sociology, University of Southern California, whose presentation explored issues relating to ageing in China.

China’s has a rapidly ageing population with the share of the population aged 65 and older expected to exceed 300 million by 2050 (more than the current total population of the US). He offered a fascinating glimpse into the lives of older people in rural China and emphasised the central role they play in the Chinese economic success story.
 
Grandparents as the lynchpins in Chinese rural society
 
China’s economic boom particularly in urban centres is largely fuelled by a migrant workforce from rural areas. Rural migrants now account for 40 per cent of the urban labour force with three-quarters of older people living in rural areas.
 
While a lot of attention has been focussed on these migrants (aged mainly 15-35 years) and their role in the economic revolution, there has been little research on the population left behind in rural China which tends to be dominated by older adults and young children (it is estimated that as many as 58 million children are left behind in rural areas).
There has been little attention paid to the role of these older adults in providing custodial care Grandparents as lynchpins in family life in Chinafor grandchildren when the middle generation migrates for work and the role of this care in facilitating economic growth.
 
There are also many questions about how the giving of this care impacts on grandparents: Do they benefit from care giving or are they a vulnerable group struggling with care duties?
 
Dr Silverstein and a team of researchers have sought to explore these issues in a groundbreaking longitudinal study which is a joint research project between the University of Southern California and Jiaohong University. The study took place in Anhui Province, a rural area near Shanghai, with a population of 60 million.
 
With approximately 12 percent of the population aged 60 and older and the region has an overrepresentation of grandparents and grandchildren. In this area 20 per cent are living in so called ‘skipped generation’ families with grandparents looking after grandchildren. The migrant parents are also sending remittances back home providing a vital source of income for older people who might otherwise have no other income.
 
Care giving: benefit or burden
 
The study sought to examine whether this situation was bringing benefits to these older people by allowing them to have income to access healthcare and other services and whether the act of care giving in itself might have positive impacts on them. Initial findings from the study have been inconclusive but the wealth of data garnered from the research has revealed much about the specific cultural, political and economic context in which intergenerational relationships are situated in China. The data also allows for some interesting comparisons with the role of custodial grandparents in other countries and certainly contributes to a better understanding of ageing in the familial context in China.
 
Grandparents in Ireland
 
The well attended seminar also heard from Virpi Timonen, Director of the School of Social Work and Social Policy at TCD, who presented findings from a recent Irish study entitled: ‘The Role of Grandparents in Divorced and Separated Families’.
  
This is the first study conducted in Ireland aimed at understanding inter-generational relationships - the nature of contact and support between grandparents, grandchildren and the divorced or separated parents - in the aftermath of relationship breakdown in the ‘middle’ generation. Drawing on interviews with grandparents whose son or daughter has experienced relationship breakdown, this study argues that the role of grandparents in divorced and separated families in Ireland is very significant.
 
 
Grandparents play a role in supporting both their adult children and their grandchildren during and after the separation. Provision of this support led some grandparents to make considerable personal sacrifices. The study provides important insights in the personal experiences of grandparents and shows the central role they play in the transition to life after divorce or separation. 
  
 
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