Grandparents Research

Dr. Clifford Hill at The Family Matters Institute worked in association with Prof. Fiona Brooks from the University of Hertfordshire on a research project looking at the role of grandparents in family life today. As the occurrence of family breakdown becomes more common grandparents can become more important than ever and their role can change significantly.

Grandparents have always had an important role in the family and in their grandchildren's lives. However, increasing rates of divorce and separation have altered their role. Now, both in the USA and UK an increasing number of grandparents are becoming full-time carers for their grandchildren.

Although divorce and separation are the most common cause of this change to the grandparent's role, there are several others. These include death, incarceration and substance abuse.

Dr. Hill and Prof. Brooks' research involved a small-scale national study using focus groups in schools, a questionnaire given to grandparents and case studies provided by grandparents on their particular experiences of being a grandparent.

The report was published in May 2009 and is available here.