More Children Raised by Grandparents During Recession

The number of children living with a grandparent who is the primary caregiver to that child has been rising slowly and steadily during the last decade. The Great Recession, however, dramatically accelerated this pattern. From 2007 to 2008, the number of children living with a grandparent caregiver increased by 6%. Overall, one-in-ten children live with a grandparent, and among this group, 41% are also being raised primarily by that grandparent. This works out to 2.9 million children. Grandparents acting as a primary caregivers is more common among blacks and Hispanics, but it is whites who have had the sharpest rise in grandparent caregivers since the recession began. The number of white grandparents primarily responsible for their grandchildren rose by 9% from 2007 to 2008, compared with an increase of just 2% among black grandparents and no change among Hispanic grandparents. Read More