A Profile of Great-Grandparenthood in the United States: A Research Note

Great-grandparents are key figures in the transmission of family history and values. Despite their recognized importance, there is scant population-based research estimating the prevalence of great-grandparents in the contemporary United States. This research note uses the most recently available nationally representative survey data to characterize great-grandparenthood in the United States from 1996 until 2012, when the Health and Retirement Study ceased asking harmonizable great-grandparenthood questions. The prevalence of great-grandparenthood increases steadily with age, from 11% of 60‒64-year-olds, to just over half at ages 80‒84, to about two thirds of those 90 or older. There has been surprising little change over the cohorts prior to the baby boom, but cohorts born after 1942 have lower rates of great-grandparenthood in their 50s and early 60s. Great-grandparenthood is somewhat more prevalent among women than men and is strongly patterned by educational attainment, with distinct patterns and levels for those with and without a college degree. Finally, we estimate that the number of great-grandparents in the United States has increased from 15.3 million in 1996 to 20.4 million in 2012, highlighting a 33% increase. This increase is due to population aging, coming despite slight declines in the proportion of individuals over 50 with great-grandchildren.