Sharp Increase in Children with Grandparent Caregivers

Since the economy began to sour in 2007, there has been a sharp increase in the number of children who are being raised by their grandparents. A new Pew Research Center study, published online in September 2010, found that 1 in 10 children in the U.S. now lives with a grandparent.

According to the Pew Research Center’s analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data, the share of children being raised by grandparents rose slowly throughout the decade. This share of children spiked suddenly from 2007 to 2008. In that year, there was a 6 percent increase. The trend of grandparents serving as caregivers is overall more common among blacks and Hispanics than among whites. However, since the recession began in 2007, the number of grandparents responsible for caregiving rose 9 percent among whites, compared to an increase of 2 percent among black grandparents and no change among Hispanic grandparents.
 

Read the report.