By Johan Trejo

Eagle View Contributor

Demographics in this country are always changing, growing, evolving, like the ebb and flow of our nation. In recent years, there have been some silent statistics showing promising change. With Grandparents Day approaching soon, I thought it’d be interesting to dive into some demographics of our older population as we prepare for the Sept. 8th observance. According to a 2012 US Census Publication, CPS (Current Population Survey) stated that about 4.2 million households contained both grandchildren under the age of 18 and grandparents living in the same residence, which was about 3 percent of all households and 10 percent of all children at the time. Since then, the concept of grandfamilies has come to the forefront of many individuals’ daily lives alongside an increase in life expectancy, single family households, and female employment, all critical factors which could promote prominent involvement of a grandparent in their grandchildren’s upbringing.

Grandfamilies, more formally known as kinship families, form in many circumstances and may look different case to case. Sometimes parents of a child pass away unexpectedly, other times the parent(s) are still present. A coresident household could contain two parents, one parent, or no parent. There could also be two grandparents present or just a grandmother or grandfather. However, it is when the grandparent becomes the primary caregiver of the children after the parents in question are unwilling or unable to provide for them. This is not always the case though, with rising economic factors such as high interest rates and an increased cost of living, more kinship families have begun to emerge out of necessity and in lot of cases, preference, but most importantly of all, these households are often being formed informally.

These informal arrangements have presented themselves as one of the leading struggles when it comes to the economic success of grandfamilies. Often because these living arrangements are formed unexpectedly, lack of clear legal guardianship can be a large obstacle for families trying to qualify for federal, state, and local financial assistance programs. One such case of this exists close to home. To accommodate an unprecedented tragedy in the family, my own parents have found themselves as part of this demographic, informally raising my nieces and nephew.

“The biggest obstacle we’ve faced has been obtaining the proper help that we need,” said Pedro, 67, my father. He has been helping raise his five grandchildren after the unexpected death of his daughter after her battle with cancer. “There are five children in total, all in school, and if we had legal guardianship of them, we could claim them as dependents and help them even more financially or we could apply for more state and local sponsored programs that would further help pay for their upbringing, schooling, and general life expenses. But that is not the case, it makes it a lot harder for us to help them adequately.”

Many things have changed since 2012, there are still many cases like that of Pedro’s where due to unfortunate circumstances, there isn’t much that can be done to help alleviate the economic distress that comes along with raising five growing grandchildren as far as program assistance goes, but as both he and his family have continued to age and change, so have the demographics of grandfamilies. A 2021 Census Bureau Update on the co-residency of grandparents and grandchildren found that compared to 2012 both the number of grandparents living with and responsible for their grandchildren was lower in 2021. The percentage of grandparents who were responsible for their coresident grandchildren declined from 38.8 percent in 2012 to 31.3 percent in 2021.

As the population has aged, grandfamilies have become a more common household type, and more government assistance has been established, it seems like both our growing demographic of grandparents and economy has been able to adjust quite well as they have helped raise yet another generation.

Johan Trejo is a NorthWest Arkansas Community College student in the fall 2024 Media Writing class.