Copyright 1999 by
The Cerontological Society of America
The Cerontologist
Vol. 39, No. 7, 49-58
This article uses a role theory perspective to examine the social relationships of 74
Latinos, mostly middle-aged and older Puerto Rican and Dominican women, rearing their
grandchildren in New York City. Fully 81% of households were below poverty level. Most
grandparents had large families and were socially connected, but two thirds of households
were skipped-generational and many grandparents lacked reliable help with child rearing.
Most relied on a focal secondary caregiver, usually an adult daughter, and extrafamilial
supports. These and other sources of strain and support for the grandparent caregiver role
in Latino families are discussed, as is the impact of this role on their social relationships.
Key Words: Custodial grandparenting, Grandparents caregiving, Latino grandparents
Social Relationships of Latino Grandparent
Caregivers: A Role Theory Perspective
Denise Burnette, PhD
of caregiving (Fuller-Thomson, Minkler, & Driver,
1996; Strawbridge, Wallhagen, Shema, & Kaplan, 1997).
These risks are likely to be greatest for grandparents
of color, as their current role-related strains are often
exacerbated by the cumulative effects of lifelong
structural inequities (Crystal & Shea, 1990; Dressel &
Barnhill, 1994). According to Fuller-Thomson, Minkler,
and Driver (1997), just over two thirds of custodial
grandparents in the 1992-1994 Survey of Families and
Households are White, 29% are African American, 10%
are of Hispanic origin (may be of any race), 2% are
Asian/Pacific Islander, and 1% American Indian. However,
closer inspection of data on all grandparents in this
national profile reveals historically strong cultural and
class components of relative care, with African Americans three times (12%) and Latinos twice (8%) as likely
as non-Latino White (4%) grandparents to be in a custodial role. And although grandparent caregiving is by
no means confined to urban areas, it is also worth
noting that 75% of children in a relative's care lived
in standard metropolitan areas in 1992-1994, up from
59% just ten years prior (Harden, Clark, & Maguire,
1997).
A review of literature yielded no published accounts
of grandparent caregiving in Latino families. This article will explore aspects of three major dimensions of
social relationships—social networks, social supports,
and social integration (Antonucci, 1990; House, Umberson, & Landis, 1988)—for 74 middle-aged and older
Latinos rearing their grandchildren in New York City
in the mid-1990s. These relationships are important
as correlates of various dimensions of physical and
mental well-being (Antonucci, 1990) and as a focus of
policy makers' renewed emphasis on personal and family responsibility as a means to reduce public expenditures on social services (Litwin, 1996). This despite
numerous studies that caution against overestimating
the carrying capacity of informal social networks, especially among the poor (Auslander & Litwin, 1988).
Countless studies have documented the crucial role
of informal support systems, including family, friends,
and neighbors, for meeting the social, psychological,
physical, and economic needs of day-to-day life. In
times of anticipated or unforeseen trouble, these systems can also function as a much-needed safety net.
The source, type, and amount of help provided depend on the nature and extent of need, the capacity
of network members to respond, and the moderating
influence of factors such as social class and cultural
norms. Support may range from temporary aid in an
acute crisis to major role reconfigurations in an individual's expected and actual life course trajectory. Resumption of child rearing responsibilities in middle and
late life is a growing case of the latter.
The March 1997 Current Population Survey showed
3.9 million or 5.5% of children younger than 18 living with grandparents and other relatives (Lugaila,
1998), up from 3.2 million in 1990 (U.S. Bureau of
the Census, 1991). Moreover, the steepest increases
since 1990 have been for children in households with
no parent present (Casper & Bryson, 1998). This rapid
growth of grandparent-maintained households is due
in large part to a spate of recent social health problems, including the substance abuse and HIV/AIDS epidemics, high rates of teen pregnancy, child abuse and
neglect, and increased incarceration of women of
child-bearing age (see Minkler, in press).
These issues pose a challenging child-rearing context for any parental figure—particularly custodial grandparents, who tend to have long-term, complex economic, social, psychological, health, and legal needs
that span multiple generations and predate the onset
This research was funded by the Andrus Foundation, American Association of Retired Persons.
Address correspondence to Dr. Burnette, Columbia University School
of Social Work, 622 West 113th Street, New York, NY 10025. E-mail:
[email protected]
Vol. 39, No. 1,1999
49
The impact of events leading to the grandparent
caregiver role may be especially adverse given the
salience of parental and grandparental roles for older
adults. People manage multiple roles and identities
by organizing them in a "salience hierarchy" and favoring some over others (Stryker, 1968). Krause (1994)
found that life stressors arising in roles that are most
important to older adults—spouse, parent, then grandparent—more adversely affect life satisfaction and
well-being than those arising in less salient roles,
presumably by eroding feelings of personal control in
these roles (Krause, 1994) and by undermining identity associated with them (Thoits, 1991).
A third type of role-based problem is lack of consensus between actor and other (e.g., a grandparent
and mediating parent). In the literal or functional absence of a grandchild's parents, grandparents may care
for this child informally or seek to legalize the relationship through guardianship, custody, or adoption
(see Flint & Perez-Porter, 1998). In either case, when
grandparents are vested with parental rights and responsibilities, the normative meanings and behaviors
attached to each role and to intergenerational role relations become obscured.
Parents who remain involved in the family may be
a source of support, conflict and/or burden, or both.
Research on role changes in grandparent-parent-grandchild networks following marital disruption in the middle
generation highlight the crucial mediating influence
of parents, especially daughters, on the grandparentgrandchild relationship. Grandparent-grandchild contact usually increases after separation or divorce, and
grandparents must negotiate their involvement (Johnson, 1988). Less often, contact is reduced, usually as
a result of unresolved conflict between the grandparent and adult child or between divorced spouses
(Gladstone, 1987; Robertson, 1975). The middle generation thus plays a pivotal role in governing the structure and dynamics of intergenerational relations, even
when absent.
The last two problematic role-based interactions involve role strain, conceptualized as (1) role conflict,
or incompatibilities between or within roles, and (2)
role overload, or strain due to lack of resources, time,
or energy to enact a role (Goode, 1960). In addition
to sources of role conflict within the grandparent caregiver role already discussed, Jendrek (1993) describes
now incompatibilities that arise between this and other
roles may affect social relations. Expectations of congruence develop among salient life spheres (work, family,
and age-set) and associated role-sets over time. When
these become temporally asynchronized, time-disordered roles such as that of grandparent caregiver result (see Seltzer, 1976). The incompatibility among roles
is then often manifested in a diminished capacity of
family and friends, who no longer share similar rolesets, to provide support (Burton & Bengtson, 1985;
Hagestad & Neugarten, 1985).
Finally, role overload, or lack of sufficient resources
to fulfill role expectations, is perhaps the most
common and severe type of role strain experienced
by grandparent caregivers. Research suggests socioeconomic and racial/ethnic minority statuses may
Social role theory has been used widely in two important areas of gerontological research: (1) role transitions in late life, or the acquisition and loss of roles
and the impact of such transitions on social integration and perceptions of well-being, and (2) the link
between social roles and personal identity, particularly
self-concept (George, 1990). A role-based approach
to social relations is thus especially fitting for research
on grandparent caregivers.
Theoretical Perspective:
Social Role Theory
Role theory posits that sociological role systems and
psychological self-systems are mediated via the process of socialization, typically classified: (1) in terms
of the age of the sociaiizee (e.g., childhood, adolescence, adulthood); (2) on the basis of variation in an
individual's incumbency of the position (e.g., anticipatory versus in-service socialization); or (3) as formal
versus informal (Heiss, 1981). Studies of socialization
of grandparent caregivers, for example, have conceptualized the role in terms of chronological age and
attendant developmental tasks; the unexpected, offtime, and ambiguous nature of the role; and the informal, ad hoc nature of preparation for the role,
evidenced by the need for numerous education and
support services.
Merton (1957) describes a role as a set of expectations associated with a particular combination of "actorother" identities, (e.g., grandparent-child, grandparentgrandchild). All roles associated with a given identity,
such as grandparent, make up that identity's role-set,
whereas role repertoires comprise all of an individual's role-sets, and the various activities each role
involves, such as companion and disciplinarian, are
sub-roles. Because different roles have elements that
are inherently incompatible, individuals must constantly adapt and negotiate role definitions they can
accept (Goode, 1960; Merton, 1957, 1976). It is this
ability to satisfactorily negotiate and fulfill normative
role-related expectations, which is especially challenging during role transitions, that is critical for social
integration and social identity (George, 1990; Rosow,
1985) and for promoting a sense of meaning and purpose in life that contributes to psychological wellbeing (Thoits, 1991).
Heiss (1981) identifies five types of problematic rolebased interactions, each relevant to the social relationships of grandparent caregivers. The first two are
an inability to formulate a preliminary definition of a
given situation and an inability to choose a role either
because of not knowing a role appropriate for the
situation or knowing several but having no basis for
choosing. The unexpected, ambiguous character of
the custodial grandparent role, and the typically crisisladen nature of role entry may confound grandparents' situational assessment and their ability to discern and select from available roles. Indeed, they must
simultaneously modify attitudes and expectations of
the normative grandparent role acquired through anticipatory socialization and adapt to "in-service" training for this new, tenuously defined role.
50
The Gerontologist
contribute to role overload and affect social relationships in manifold ways, and cultural norms and values
can either complicate or mitigate this strain. Studies
on social relationships of African American and White
grandparent caregivers and of Latinos, particularly Caribbeans, who predominate here, are reviewed next in
order to identify potentially salient aspects of relationships among Latino grandparent caregivers.
cluding that of grandparent to their other grandchildren,
were constrained or foreclosed by caregiving duties.
Nearly 40% of the sample reported increased isolation from friends as a result of these responsibilities.
Latino grandparent caregivers are apt to share many
of the role-related aspects of social relations identified
in these studies. However, their cultural norms and
values and relationship to the dominant culture suggest at least three other salient features of their social
networks: core cultural values of familism and allocentrism, preference for natural helping networks over
the formal service sector, and high exposure to environmental stressors (e.g., poverty, violence, and discrimination).
Social Relationships of Grandparent Caregivers
The few studies that have examined social relationships of grandparent caregivers suggest caregiving
affects both the quantity and quality of these relationships, and some findings appear discrepant. In a study
of 71 African American grandmothers raising young
kin in crack-affected, urban families, Minkler, Roe, and
Robertson-Beckley (1994) found most women were
embedded in dense mutual aid networks characterized by high levels of contact and reciprocity. Fully
92% of the sample had a confidant with whom they
remained close, but contact with family and friends
and marital satisfaction had decreased since caregiving began. Nearly one third of non-working grandmothers had relinquished jobs to care for grandchildren, severing significant social ties. On the otner hand,
new relationships had also stemmed from the surrogate parent role.
In marked contrast, only 3% of the 60 urban-dwelling
African American grandparents in Burton's (1992) two
studies reported consistent, reliable family support for
their caregiving role. Depleted by efforts to meet their
own subsistence needs, family members were unable
to provide much help. And with neither time nor energy to build and sustain viable alternative networks,
most grandparents had turned to the formal service
sector. Likewise, eight African American grandmothers rearing the children of their incarcerated daughters in Dressel and Barnhill's (1994) study were fully
responsible for the children's psychosocial and material well-being and they, too, had sought assistance
from multiple social service agencies.
Two additional studies explored social relationships
in samples of mostly White caregivers. Jendrek (1993)
examined changes in family, friendship, and marital
relations of 114 grandparents providing three types of
care for grandchildren—custodial, living-with, and daycare. Most had no problems with friends or family as
a result of caregiving, but custodials were more likely
to report problems in these areas as well as changes
in close friends. Fifty-six percent of custodials reported
reduced contact with friends, as did 44% of livingwith, and 2 1 % of daycare providers, and 47% had
problems with family, as did 28% of living-with and
14% of daycare providers. Custodial grandparents were
also more than four times as likely to report reduced
marital satisfaction.
Finally, Shore and Hayslip (1994) found that caregiving restricted the social roles available to 103 grandparent caregivers in their study. Even as they prepared
psychologically and socially to replace parental duties
with expanded social networks of friends and activities, many discovered that meaningful social roles, inVol. 39, No. 1, 1999
Latino Social Support Systems
Allocentrism, or collectivism, and familism are basic features of Latino culture (Mann & Triandis, 1985;
Vega, 1995), and both may buffer the negative effects
of stressful life conditions (Markides & Black, 1996).
Indeed, collectivist norms that value group over individual welfare are perhaps most evident in strong
identification with and attachment to nuclear and extended family (Sabogal, Mann, & Otero-Sabogal, 1987).
Latino elders tend to have larger families, stronger family bonds, and more interaction with and support
from adult children than African American or White
elders, even with gender and class controlled (Cantor
& Brennan, 1993; Lubben & Becerra 1987). They also
occupy a functionally central role in family activities
(Claven, 1978) and provide stability in times of disorganization, such as immigration, divorce, or death
(McCready, 1985).
Kornhaber (1996) suggests Latino culture as a positive example of how the value culture places on
grandparenting affects identity with the role. Empirical research on this topic is sparse, but seems to support this endorsement. Raphael (1989) reported high
levels of pride and security in both the symbolic and
functional aspects of the role in a pilot of ten lowincome, urban Latino grandparents. Becerra and Shaw
(1989) review studies that identify three main grandparenting roles for urban and rural Mexican Americans—child rearing, family decision making, and religious advocate/teacher. And Cantor (1979) found that
older Puerto Ricans were twice as likely as their Black
or White age peers to influence child rearing, family
decision making, and advising.
Latino families tend to be less matrifocal than African American families, with men more directly involved
in family and household affairs, but older Latinas play
a key role in kinkeeping and family decision making
(Padgett, 1988). These familial prerogatives afford them
increased prestige and domestic authority as they age.
However gender differences in the behavioral manifestations of familism that reinforce the subordination
of women may also disproportionately burden them
with family care in later life (Hurtado, 1995).
Socioeconomic and labor market conditions, coupled
with prejudice and discrimination, have also affected
Latino families. As service industries replaced factory
jobs in recent decades, poverty rose for the current
51
cohort of older Latinos. At present, 85% of elderly Latinos in New York City have incomes under 150% of
poverty (Cantor & Brennan, 1993), and 48% of welfare recipients aged 50 and older are Latino. Widespread substance abuse, HIV infection, and family disruption also affected second-generation migrants to
the mainland. Female-headed Dominican and Puerto
Rican households with no spouse present rose from
34% and 33% respectively in 1980 to 4 1 % and 35%
in 1990 (19% and 22% for all New Yorkers). Puerto
Rican households of single female heads and their
children actually decreased 10% during this period
due to the growing number of children in non-parent
headed households (New York City Department of City
Planning, 1993).
These conditions have lead to "diversified social networks, characterized by household structures, extrahousehold ties, and general patterns of helpful exchange" (Pelto, Roman, & Liriano, 1982, p. 54). Delgado
and Humm-Delgado (1982) describe four core natural helping systems in these networks: (1) extended
family, including fictive kin incorporated through the
ritual kinship process of compadrazgo, which assigns
roles and duties of compadre (godfather) and comadre
(godmother); (2) folk healers, who in the Puerto Rican
community, include the spiritist and the santero, who
attend emotional and interpersonal problems, and the
herbalist and the santiguador, who treat physical
ills; (3) religious institutions, particularly Catholicism and
alternatives like Pentecostalism, which usually serve
social service as well as religious functions (McCreary,
1985); and (4) merchant and social clubs that offer a
variety of goods and services.
To summarize, Latino elders tend to live in larger
households and have more family contact and support than older African Americans or Whites. They identify strongly with the grandparent role, which typically
involves child rearing and family decision making, especially for older women. Some role-related problems
in social relationships identified in studies of African
American and White grandparent caregivers, such as
restricted social roles and diminished level of contact
and quality of relations with friends, family, and spouses,
may also pertain. However, a strong family orientation and identification with the grandparent role, a
preference for natural helping networks, and high exposure to environmental stressors may also influence
interpretation and enactment of the grandparent caregiver role in unique ways.
of Latino children are distributed like those of children in other racial/ethnic groups nationally, except
that only 35% of those in non-parent headed households live with a grandparent, compared to 59% of
African American children (Harden, Clark, & Maguire,
1997). In the present study, 93% of the caregivers were
grandparents (5% were great-grandparents and 2%
other relatives), and this term is used generically hereafter. Having responsibility for a child was defined as
being the self-identified primary provider of daily care
and in charge of decisions about the child's welfare.
Recruitment was targeted in geographic locales and
health and social service agencies with high proportions of Latino residents/clients. Posters were distributed to child welfare, aging, and family service agencies, schools, churches, pediatric and geriatric clinics,
housing projects, senior centers, and community centers. Key service providers and community leaders in
these settings were also contacted for referrals and additional referral sources. Other recruitment venues were
neighborhood fairs, agency open houses, and public
service announcements on Spanish-language radio programs. Interviewers screened each referral by telephone to ensure they met inclusion criteria, then
scheduled an interview at a time and place convenient for the grandparent.
Data Collection and Instrumentation
Methods
Interviewers.—Six bilingual, bicultural interviewers
experienced in working with older Latinos in the community participated in a full-day standard training
session on administration of the data collection instrument, interviewing techniques, and technical aspects
of the study protocol (see Fowler & Mangione, 1990;
Tom-Orme, 1991). The session included didactic
training and role-playing. Interrater agreement on randomly selected items from role-play interviews exceeded .85.
Five interviewers were social workers and one was
a sociology graduate student. Four were Puerto Rican,
one Colombian, and one Costa Rican; four were
women. Interviewers were matched to participants on
language and when possible on gender and national
origin. Participants received $20.00 and information
on local resources for one face-to-face interview of
about two hours duration. Most interviews were conducted in Spanish (88%) and in the grandparent's
home. The commitment and skills of the interviewers
were essential for obtaining and completing interviews
and assuring high-quality data, especially given the
sensitive nature of many questions.
Sample Selection.—Given the exploratory nature of
the study and known difficulties of identifying and recruiting members of rare populations (Kalton & Anderson, 1989), a purposive sampling strategy was used.
Inclusion criteria were self-identified member of a Latino nationality group, aged 50 and older, and an extended family member (or godparent) with major or
sole responsibility for at least one related child aged
18 or younger. Many custodial grandparents are younger
than 50, but this age criterion permitted a focus on
middle-aged and older caregivers. Living arrangements
Translation.—Noting that direct translations may
not be culturally or linguistically appropriate for lowincome, ethnic populations, Zambrana (1991) recommends that bilingual persons of the same ethnic origin as the study population who are experienced in
the community translate and review the instrument to
ensure correct colloquial words, symbolic meaning, and
word structure rather than direct back translation. An
experienced Latina translator thus translated the instrument into Spanish, then an interviewer who had
52
The Gerontologist
also worked as a translator and had extensive experience with low-income, older Latinos reviewed each
item carefully. Several questions were reworded to improve colloquial relevance, and no problems were
noted in three pretest interviews with Latino grandparent caregivers who responded to outreach but were
just under the age criterion of 50.
and employ a range of resources to facilitate transition to and ongoing negotiation of their caregiver role.
Findings on the social relationships of Latino grandparent caregivers in this study are presented next in
terms of role-related sources of strain and support and
the impact of this role on their social networks, social
supports, and social integration.
Measures.—Social relationships were assessed as: (1)
full household enumeration and relationship of each
member to respondent; (2) number of children and
grandchildren in New York City area and number of
each beyond; (3) availability of confidant (someone
you can trust and confide in) and relationship to respondent; (4) current level of contact with family and
friends by telephone or in-person (4+ times/week =
1; 1-3 times/week = 2; < once a week = 3; monthly
or less = 4); (5) changes in the level of contact over
past year and (6) since beginning caregiving (both
assessed as more frequent = 1; about the same =
2; less frequent = 3); (7) help available with childrelated activities when/if needed (yes = 1); (8) relationship of person who does/would provide this help;
(9) reliability of this help (indefinitely = 1; short time
only, a few weeks to 6 months = 2; just every now
and then for small tasks = 3); (10) religious/community supports, (11) visit to traditional healer in past
6 months, and (12) help given to others (personal care,
child care, errands, advice, financial, housework).
Interaction with children's parents was assessed as
level of contact grandchild has with each parent (lives
with or daily contact = 1; fairly regular, 2-3 times
per week = 2; occasional, less than once a week =
3; or no contact = 4) and grandparent's level of
comfort with contact (prefer more = 1; about right =
2; prefer less = 3; prefer none = 4).
Language acculturation and familism were assessed using scales from the San Luis Valley Hispanic
Health and Aging Study (Baxter, Hoag, & Hamman,
1994). The former included self-assessed ability to
speak, read, write, and understand English and Spanish (well = 1, fair = 2, poorly/not at all = 3) and
language spoken in four social contexts (family, friends,
neighbors, work) (mostly/only English = 1, Spanish/
English equally = 2, mostly/only Spanish = 3) (M =
17.9, SD = 5.5; a = .87). The familism scale tapped
three basic dimensions of the construct identified
by Sabogal, Marfn, and Otero-Sabogal (1987): familial
obligation, perceived support from family, and family
as referents. Items are: "It is important to know your
cousins, aunts, and uncles and to have a close relationship with them," "When in need of help, it is
better to rely on relatives than someone outside your
family," "Brothers have a responsibility to protect their
sisters while they are growing up," "While they are
growing up, sisters have an obligation to respect their
brothers' authority," and "It is important for people to
marry someone of similar cultural and religious background" (mostly agree = 1; somewhat agree = 2; mostly
disagree = 3) (M = 7.5, SD = 2.1, «= =.55).
As noted, social roles are linked to personal and
social identity, and hence to various dimensions of
well-being. Custodial grandparents face myriad obstacles
Vol.39, No. 1, 1999
53
Findings
The 74 study participants were predominantly unmarried Puerto Rican and Dominican women in their
early 60s (22% were age 70 and older) who had low
levels of educational attainment and family income
(Table 1). Other countries of origin were Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama.
The 69 foreign-born grandparents had lived in the
United States on average 35 years, but remained overwhelmingly Spanish-speaking. Fewer than 1 in 5 reported proficiency in spoken English, and virtually all
Dominicans were monolingual Spanish. Puerto Ricans,
who have U.S. citizenship and patterns of frequent
cross-migration, had been here longer (M = 43.4 years)
than Dominicans {M = 25.0 years) (t = 6.5, df = 56,
p <.0001) and were more language acculturated (t =
6.4, df = 63, p < .0001), but these groups did not
differ on any other measures.
Nearly half of the grandparents had fewer than
eight years of formal schooling and barely one quar-
Table 1. Sociodemographic Characteristics (N = 74)
N
Age
Years in United States
Gender
Female
National Origin
Puerto Rican
Dominican
Other Latin American
Marital Status
Never married
Married
Widowed
D i vo rced/se parated
Education
No formal education
1st-4th grade
5th-7th grade
8th grade-some high school
High school graduate
Some college/graduate
Annual Household Income
Under $7,500
$7,500-10,499
$10,500-13,499
$13,500-16,499
$16,500-19,499
$19,500 and over
Adjusted Poverty Level
Below 75% poverty threshold
Below 100% poverty threshold
Below 125% poverty threshold
%
69
93.2
44
21
9
59.5
28.4
12.2
5
16
18
35
6.8
21.6
24.3
47.3
5
14
16
19
10
10
6.8
18.9
21.6
25.7
13.5
13.5
40
11
11
2
5
5
54.1
14.9
14.9
2.7
6.8
6.8
54
60
69
73.0
81.1
93.2
Mean
(SD)
63.1
35.1
(7.0)
(13.6)
in the context of these difficult background factors also
produced considerable role strain.
Role conflict stemming from asynchronized rolesets at this life stage was evident in grandparents' descriptions of their profoundly altered life courses. Many
had come to New York City at midcentury pursuing
factory jobs and education for their children, but with
plans to retire to and eventually die in their birthplace. Rearing grandchildren here has meant relinquishing these cherished life plans, and the back-migration
of many age-peers to the islands has resulted in loss
of long-term supportive relationships with family and
friends. Another source of role conflict that emanated
from incompatible role-sets was early retirement, which
not only curtailed a meaningful social role but also
strained the caregiver role by eliminating vital economic resources. And, as the excerpts cited above
illustrate, poverty produced tremendous role overload.
Major difficulties in meeting even basic role expectations such as providing food, clothing, shelter, and security eroded grandparents' sense of competency in
this highly salient role and diminished the integrity of
social relationships that served as valuable supports for
the role.
With regard to familial networks, grandparents had
comparatively large families, averaging four children
and nine grandchildren, yet these numbers rarely translated into additional resources. The mean household
size was four, with an average of two grandchildren
in care. Parental substance aouse was the main reason for care, then incarceration, HIV/AIDS, and other
physical or mental illness. Half of all cases also involved
parental abandonment, abuse, and/or neglect, and
half of children in care, whose mean age was ten, had
been with the grandparent since the first year of life.
Fifty-four percent had no contact with their mother,
61% had none with their father, and 34% had none
with either. A quarter of grandparents preferred more
contact, one third preferred less or none.
Two thirds of the households in the study were
ter had graduated high school. Many women, in particular, had sacrificed their own education and economic security for family care, often before coming to
the United States. A grandmother illustrates how lengthy
caregiving careers develop over time and are shaped
as much by necessity as choice:
I have worked hard since I was a small child. First, I
raised my brothers and sisters. That was in the country, in Puerto Rico. Then my own children here. Then
my sister died and I got her children. Now I am raising my grandchildren. No matter how hard I have
tried to better myself, it seems that I was cursed from
day one.
With income adjusted for household size and using
February 1996 estimates of national poverty thresholds
(U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1995), four fifths of households in the study had poverty-level incomes, nearly
three quarters were in extreme poverty, and 93% were
poor or near poor. This level of poverty is likely a result
of the related effects of low rates of marriage, educational attainment, and English proficiency in concert
with long-term patterns of low/ sporadic workforce participation, confinement to low-wage jobs, and premature retirement. Only one grandparent worked parttime and three others and the spouse of a fourth held
full-time jobs—all low-wage, service-sector positions
(clerical, nousecleaner, home attendant, and maintenance). Nearly one quarter (23%) had retired during
the previous year in order to care for grandchildren.
Only one in three of these retirements was "on-time"
at age 65 and older, and sequelae identified by early
retirees included loss of income, dignity, autonomy,
and valued social ties. Poverty also restricted grandparents' socialization by limiting geographic mobility.
Two grandparents explain:
I don't have money to buy things I need for my family. We barely survive. The struggle to buy a simple
dress for my little girl, you would not believe. If oniy I
could have continued working. But the dollar I used
to spend on a [subway] token to visit my friend in
Queens now buys a loaf of bread. Of course, I am
grateful we have bread.
Table 2. Household Composition of Latino
Grandparent Caregivers (N = 74)
I thought I would be working until I retired, go to
Puerto Rico every year or two, where I have friends,
retire there, still nave a checking account. I expected
to take the children to Puerto Rico, to go to restaurants, to do everything that a working class person
does. . . . By the time I can afford it, I will be too old
and too sick, and everyone there will be gone.
N
%
Number in Household
Two Generation Household
Grandchild +
One grandparent
Two grandparents
Grandparent + grandparent's
sibling/friend
Total two generation households
These background data demonstrate how current
and cumulative life conditions may affect the ability
of this cohort of Latino grandparents to meet role expectations as a primary caregiver of young kin. The
preponderance of grandmothers reflects well-established gender- and age-role socialization processes that
vest women with lifelong caregiving and kinkeeping
functions. These grandmothers had long fulfilled normative grandparenting "sub-roles" such as shared child
rearing and family decision making and they valued
these functions highly. However, surrogate parenting
Multigenerational Household*
Grandparent(s) + grandchild +
One adult daughter
One adult son
More than one adult child
Total multigenerational households
Mean (SD)
3.88(1.6)
34
13
3
45.9
17.6
4.0
50
67.5
10
7
7
13.5
9.5
9.5
32.5
24
"Two of these households, one of which was four-generational,
included a parent of the respondent.
54
The Gerontologist
skipped-generational (Table 2). Nearly half comprised
grandparent and grandchild only, another 18% included
the caregiver's spouse, and a sibling or friend was present in 4%. Most multigenerational households included one adult child, usually a daughter who was
rarely the parent of a grandchild in care.
These household configurations and the reasons
that underlie them also raised problematic role-based
interactions for grandparents. Circumstances that commonly lead to grandparent care tend to destabilize
family structure and dynamics, disrupting grandparents' ability to predict and control familial relations
and complicating their entry into an ill-defined role.
As one grandmother queried, "Who am I? Grandma?
Mama? Grandmama? If I can't figure it out, how can
I expect them [grandchildren] to?" Such ambiguity
made it hard for grandparents to articulate appropriate role-related attitudes and behaviors and to establish a salience hierarchy for these roles. Resulting confusion created conflict between grandparents and
parents who were unable to reach consensus on their
respective roles and divided loyalties among grandchildren. Some families tried to resolve this conflict
through negotiation, but parents' unreliability made this
option unrealistic for many. Even then, though, grandparents were extremely reluctant to seek termination
of parental rights.
On the other hand, conflation of grandparent and
parent roles in true "skipped-generation" families
meant the loss of meaningful aspects of both roles,
and required grandparents to master a novel repertoire of parenting skills, usually through "in-service"
training. This attenuated family form usually consisted of a traditional, Spanish-speaking grandparent
and more linguistically and culturally assimilated grandchildren. Grandparents scored only moderately on the
familism scale (M = 7.5, SD = 2.1), for example, but
item analysis showed that 87% endorsed the importance of extended family whereas only half thought it
best to rely on relatives when in need. The experience of a 57-year-old grandmother with custody of
her incarcerated daughter's three children exemplifies
the painful gap between deeply held familistic norms
and values and the reality of family stretched to the
limit. Summoned to the prison upon the birth of a
fourth child and unable to care for yet another newborn, she had methodically carried the infant around
a circuit of relatives until she found a distant cousin
willing to care for the child. In another case, a grandfather explained that he was rearing his grandson
partly to ensure the boy would not be adopted and
lose the family name.
Study participants also endorsed traditional genderrole beliefs—78% agreed that brothers should protect
their sisters and 62% that sisters should respect their
brothers while growing up. The inability to fufill gender-related role obligations such as protection and socialization was a common source of frustration and
distress. Discussing her grandson's future, a grandmother worried, "If anything happens to me, neither
his mother or his father will raise him with values."
Another lamented, "Every night I pray to God for ten
more years of life. By then they will be socialized
Vol. 39, No. 1, 1999
to know what is good and bad. I am trying to teach
them to be self-sufficient, law abiding citizens and
good Christians. I only hope I can see them through
these difficult years."
Table 3 presents data on social support and integration. Nearly all grandparents reported a confidant
and most had frequent contact with friends and relatives. Visiting had increased for 24% but decreased
for 32% since caregiving began, and had increased
for 19% but decreased for 27% over the previous year
(not in table). Environmental stressors were a main reason
for reduced socialization, as were other caregiving duties
for several grandparents. A 73-year-old Bronx grandfather whose daughter, a nurse, was killed in a driveby shooting, was left to care for her mother, a diabetic with hypertension and severe arthritis, and her
16-year-old son. He explains:
It is very hard to let my grandson go out because I
am also afraid on the streets. Every morning he goes
to school, I kiss him for good luck, and I pray he will
come home safe and unharmed. But I also did the
same with his mother. . . . He is growing up now,
and you know my wife is not well. I have so many
fears. I don't know what will happen to us.
Table 3. Informal Supports of Grandparents
Main Confidant
Child
Child-in-law/godchild
Spouse
Sibling
Other relative (parent)
Friend
No one
Frequency of Visits
4 + times per week
1-3 times per week
<1 time per week
1 time per month or less
Availability/Relationship of Helper
Child
Child-in-law
Spouse
Other relative
Friend
No one to help
How Long Help Would be Available
Indefinitely
Up to 6 months
Every now and then
No help available
Other Sources of Support*
Church
Grandparent support group
Senior center
Community center
Traditional healers
Child's school
No community supports
N
(%)
35
3
2
8
4
13
8
(47.3)
(4.1)
(2.7)
(10.8)
(5.4)
(17.6)
(10.8)
58
11
4
1
(78.4)
(14.9)
(5.4)
(1.4)
35
5
7
9
5
12
(47.3)
(6.8)
(9.5)
(12.2)
(6.8)
(16.2)
39
10
12
12
(52.7)
(13.5)
(16.2)
(16.2)
40
31
27
7
4
3
9
(54.1)
(41.9)
(36.5)
(9.5)
(5.0)
(4.1)
(12.2)
•Attributes of "other sources of support" are not mutually exclusive.
55
Widespread availability of help with child rearing,
reported by 84% of grandparents, was tempered by
only a moderate degree OT confidence in its reliability. Grandparents named adult children most often as
confidants and helpers, but only 14% of child confidants and 11% of helpers were the parent of a child
in care. Even among married grandparents, half identified an adult child as their main helper, whereas 31%
named a spouse, and 19% reported no available help.
Here, the crucial role of a daughter in the linkinggeneration for maintaining generational structure and
contributing to intergenerational dynamics is clearly
evident.
Most of the support grandparents provided to others was emotional. Instrumental aid was limited by a
lack of time, money, and energy, and because many
of their older relatives were not in this country. Only
4% of study participants cared for an older relative,
but many others expressed a desire to do more. Several reported sending small sums to elderly parents
back home, which one woman described as "penance for not being there to take care of her now that
she needs me."
Finally, the church was also a major source of spiritual and social support. Fully 90% of the sample viewed
religion as extremely important in their lives and over
half had received support from the church. Two named
God as their confidant and several others identified
clergy. Although not a focus of this article, grandparents in this study were also well connected to the formal service sector (Burnette, in press). On average,
they had used six aging, child welfare, family, and/or
income maintenance services during the previous year,
yet 80% still had unmet service needs. These services
served as a crucial venue for role socialization and for
obtaining supports that informal networks could not
provide.
bedded in large, dense helping networks of nuclear
and extended family like their African American
counterparts in Minkler & Roe's (1993) study. Most
study participants did in fact report large family networks, having a confidant, frequent social contacts,
available help with child rearing, and extra-household
supports. The mean household size of four exceeds
the city-wide average of three for older Latinos, and
the number of adult children, also four, is equivalent
(Cantor & Brennan, 1993). Having a confidant may
positively affect mental and physical health (Lowenthal & Haven, 1968), and frequent social contacts suggest high levels of social integration.
However, like African American grandparents in
studies by Burton (1992) and Dressel and Barnhill (1994),
these network strengths were qualified by a range
of personal, interpersonal, and environmental factors.
Only about half of grandparents in the study were
confident of ongoing help with child rearing, caregiving
restricted or negated other desirable social roles and
contacts, and they had sought help from many extrafamilial informal supports and formal services. These
qualifications suggest familial networks, however large
and well intentioned, cannot meet the full range of a
grandparent caregiver's role-related needs and that a
complement of informal supports and formal services
is indicated. The need for reliable instrumental childrelated supports was especially striking, and favorable
attitudes toward and experiences with local religious
institutions and community agencies suggest potential
avenues for delivering these types of role-related supports.
Extreme poverty among this sample, 81% as compared with 23% for custodial grandparents nationwide
(Fuller-Thomson, Minkler, & Driver, 1997), affected
their caregiver roles and social relationships directly
and indirectly, and its amelioration should be a top
priority for practitioners and policy makers. Although
it may be easy to rationalize consignment of young
kin to highly familistic Latino grandparents, cultural
preference should not be allowed to obscure needs
that stem from other relevant factors, such as age and
social class (Amaro & Russo, 1987). Aggressive neighborhood-level, bilingual outreach is needed to educate grandparents and practitioners who work with
them across service settings about local, state, and
federal income maintenance programs. And, in order
for grandparents to continue working until retirement
age, high quality, affordable, acceptable child care
must be in place.
Two thirds of grandparent-headed households nationwide include a member of the linking generation,
prompting speculation that grandparents may be doing "double duty" in caring for an impaired adult child,
too (Fuller-Thomson, Minkler, & Driver, 1997). The
far greater proportion of skipped-generation households, half neaded by a single grandparent, was thus
surprising here. However, two thirds of the children
in care had some contact with at least one parent.
Future studies should explore the nature of this contact more fully, as their parents' presence may be
sporadic or underreported due to housing policies.
These households also raise concerns because the
Discussion
Custodial grandparenting constitutes a major, unexpected role transition in the life course of a growing number of middle-aged and older adults, and regional and national data suggest that individuals who
assume this physically, emotionally, and financially demanding role tend to have multiple needs and limited resources. Using a role theory perspective, this
study has explored the social relationships of 74 Latino grandparent caregivers in New York City. Previous studies of African American and White grandparent caregivers suggest race/ethnicity and social class
are key factors in understanding how grandparents are
socialized into this role, how they manage the role
over time, and the types of problematic role-based
social interactions they are likely to encounter. Data
from this study show this is a highly salient role for
custodial grandparents in Latino families and that rolerelated problems interact negatively with their social
relationships in myriad ways.
The centrality of family in Latino culture, norms that
allow for shared child rearing, and a preference for
natural helping networks reviewed in this article suggest that Latino grandparent caregivers may be em56
The Gerontologist
bulk of daily care falls solely on a grandparent. As expected, this was a grandmother in all but one case.
The fact that relatively few married grandmothers
named a spouse as helper, while at odds with traditionally greater involvement of men in Latino families,
fits with previous reports of the ancillary roles -typically played by male partners of custodial grandmothers (Burton, 1992; Minkler & Roe, 1993).
More concerted attention is also needed to multigenerational households. In the present study, most
of these households included one adult child, usually
an aunt of a child in care, who also functioned as a
confidant and primary helper. This focal secondary caregiver may be a key figure in the near- and long-term
lives of children being reared in grandparent-headed
Latino families. Service planning, including permanency
planning for grandchildren, and research should consider the emotional and instrumental aspects of this
vital role.
Finally, several limitations to this study and directions for future research are noted. First, the purposive sampling strategy limits generalizability of findings.
Indeed, recruitment seems to have yielded a sample
connected to the formal service sector and may have
missed more isolated others. Second, data are selfreports and are thus subject to reporting bias. Third,
although important facets of social networks, support,
and integration were explored, a more comprehensive treatment of each of these multidimensional constructs using standardized, theoretically sensitive measures will enhance theoretical understanding of social
roles and relationships in this caregiver population and
promote cross-study comparisons of different racial/
ethnic and Latino national origin groups..
Longitudinal studies would illuminate intraindividual role-related processes, and extending the unit
of analysis beyond the grandparent or grandparentgrandchild dyad to the family will improve understanding of the changing structure and complex dynamics
of grandparent-headed families (Bengtson, Rosenthal,
& Burton, 1995; Robertson, 1995). Finally, future studies
using other well-developed theoretical models, such
as the hierarchical compensatory (Cantor, 1989), task
specificity (Litwak, 1985), and social convoy (Antonucci
& Akiyama, 1987) models to advance knowledge about
the roles and relationships of custodial grandparents
and the optimal interface of informal supports and formal
services needed to ensure their own well-being and
that of their families.
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Received July 28, 1997
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