Family Help By Greek Grandparents

Abstract

The aim of this research is to investigate the role of grandparents in providing help in the care of their grandchildren in Greece. Many Greek grandparents provide regular child care and other kinds of family help, but very limited research has been carried out on this important topic. Quantitative data has been collected by administered questionnaire from 190 grandparents around Greece regarding the types of help given in the care of grandchildren, how often help was given, and grandparents' reasons for helping. The authors find that over a third (38%) of grandparents provide daily child care. Around 50% also babysit, provide household help, and pickup/drop off a grandchild at least once a week. Furthermore, 50% provide emotional support or advice on a daily basis, and 26% give financial support at least once a week. The vast majority (93%) report “I enjoy it” as one of the most important reasons for providing assistance. Over a third (38%) say they provide assistance to help the parental generation financially. Grandmothers are significantly more involved in child care and household help than are grandfathers. No significant differences have been found for involvement in the various forms of family help according to area of residence, educational level, or income level (with the exception of emotional support). The findings are discussed in the context of previous research on grandparents and of recent social change in Greece.

Keywords:

• grandparents
• Greece
• family help
• daycare/childcare
• social change

Notes

This research is part of the RTN project Grandparenthood and Intergenerational Relationships in Aging European Populations (contract HPRN-CT2001-00223) funded by the European Commission.

1. It included questions about the types of care provided to the elderly relative (e.g., physical, social, and domestic), number of hours spent caring per week, and supportive services accessed by both the carer and the elderly relative. The items and instruments were developed by the six country partners in this project with reference to the existing research literature on carer service use and quality of life.

2. However, in seven cases, while the grandparent questionnaire had been completed fully, data from the wider EUROFAMCARE survey was missing for the respondent's employment status, area of residence, educational level, and gender.

3. If respondents had more than one grandchild they were asked to answer the questionnaire in relation to the grandchild whom they were/had been most involved in caring for.

4. Question 4 of the grandparent questionnaire contained three possible financial reasons for providing assistance. Due to the incorrect translation of “it helps us both financially” into Greek as “it helps them both financially,” this category and “it helps the parents financially” were collapsed into one (“it helps the parents financially”) for the purposes of analysis.