THE WELL-BEING OF GRANDPARENT CAREGIVER HOUSEHOLDS: DOES DURATION OF CARE MATTER?

Abstract

Do variations in the duration of grandparents caring for grandchildren result in significantly different patterns of poverty and receipt of public assistance for the household and disability for the grandparent caregiver? Using data from the 5% Integrated Public Use Microdata Samples (IPUMS) from the Census 2000, this paper explores how grandparent caregivers and their households fare as the length of caregiving extends from the possibly temporary category of under 6 months to a more permanent situation of over five years. The results indicate that households in the higher duration of grandparent caregiving categories have a significantly lower likelihood of living below 150% of the poverty threshold and a higher likelihood of receiving public assistance, after controlling for demographic and human capital covariates. Disability of the caregiver varies slightly as the length of caregiving reaches five or more years.