Sandwiched Grandparents and Biological Health Risks in China

This study examined the cross-sectional associations between intergenerational caregiving and health risks among sandwiched Chinese grandparents who provide care to grandchildren, great-grandparents, or both. Drawing on biomarker data from the 2011 wave of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (N range = 2,189–3,035), we measured age-related biological health risks of hypertension, diabetes, inflammation, and allostatic load. We found that health risks did not necessarily increase with the intensity of intergenerational caregiving. Providing care to grandchildren and great-grandparents simultaneously was not as detrimental to health as reported in earlier studies from the United States. Sandwiched grandparents could benefit from providing care to grandchildren or great-grandparents only. These unexpected findings might be related to the cultural mandates of filial piety and family solidarity in China. Grandfathers and grandmothers experienced different associations between varying types of intergenerational caregiving and health risks.

Living Arrangements and Gendered Work Prospects Among Chinese Grandparents

Recent literature on grandparenthood in China overwhelmingly focuses on the role of grandparents as caregivers for grandchildren. However, many become grandparents at an age when they are still active in the labor force. Using data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (2011-2015), this study examines the extent to which coresidence with grandchildren affects grandparents’ labor force participation and work hours. Results from our fixed-effect models show that, living with grandchildren has a positive effect on men’s work participation and hours worked, especially for those with flexible jobs. For women with inflexible jobs, coresidence with grandchildren has a negative impact on their work prospect. Furthermore, grandparents in skipped generational households are less likely to scale back in work than those in multigenerational households, indicating a high level of double burden from both work and caregiving responsibilities. Our study extends prior work by emphasizing grandparents’ role as active workers and highlights the importance to understand work and caregiving demands in a gendered and dynamic household context.

Gender differences in depressive symptoms of rural Chinese grandparents caring for grandchildren

Background Caring for grandchildren is regarded as one of the principle roles of middle- and old-aged adults, especially among rural Chinese grandparents. This study aims to examine the gender differences in depressive symptoms of rural Chinese grandparents caring for grandchildren, based on the gender differences in grandparental role engagement and the theories of role strain and role enhancement. Methods A total of 4833 rural citizens with one or more grandchildren were selected from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) conducted in 2015. Grandchild care was measured by continuous variable (duration) and categorical variable (no care, low intensity, moderate intensity, high intensity). Depressive symptoms were assessed by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). We used coarsened exact matching (CEM) to balance the covariates of caregivers and non-caregivers. Following CEM, 1975 non-caregivers and 2212 caregivers were identified (N = 4187). Multilevel linear regression was employed to examine the gender differences in depressive symptoms. We also tested for the moderating role of gender on the association between grandchild care and depressive symptoms. Results Grandmothers were more likely to provide grandchild care (54.42% vs 51.43%) at high intensity (61.46% vs 51.01%), with longer duration (39.24 h vs 33.15 h) than that given by grandfathers. Grandmothers suffered more from depressive symptoms than grandfathers, and such gap increased when grandparents were involved in high-intensity care. Grandmothers providing grandchild care, particularly at moderate intensity, were associated with fewer depressive symptoms (Coef. = − 0.087, 95%CI: − 0.163, − 0.010; Coef. = − 0.291, 95%CI: − 0.435, − 0.147), compared with non-caregivers. Grandmothers giving moderate intensity of grandchild care were also associated with fewer depressive symptoms (Coef. = − 0.171, 95% CI: − 0.313, − 0.029), compared with those with low-intensity care. However, such associations were not significant among grandfathers. Conclusions Our findings highlight the gender differences in depressive symptoms of rural Chinese grandparents caring for grandchildren. Grandparents should be encouraged to engage in grandchild care, but at moderate intensity. The health status of middle- and old-aged adults, particularly females, should be monitored closely. Humanistic care, preventive care and curative treatment strategies focusing on such populations should be developed and refined.

Can Chinese grandparents say no? A comparison of grandmothers in two Asian cities

This chapter examines two dominant research constructs namely, ‘cultural obligation’ and ‘intergenerational reciprocity’ in caring for grandchildren in Chinese societies – Fuzhou and Singapore. Drawing on Social Relational Theory (SRT), it examines the agency of grandmothers through unpacking the rationales for their involvement or non-involvement in childcare, and the goals and meanings they ascribe to their decisions. Grandparents are viewed as agents: capable of setting goals, devising plans, strategies and taking actions to achieve their goals in the relational contexts with their adult children and grandchildren. The key research questions addressed in this chapter are : (1) to what extent do grandmothers in Fuzhou and Singapore are influenced in their decisions to provide childcare by similar yet diverse Confucian roots; (2) understanding the socio-cultural discourses of grandparenthood in Fuzhou and Singapore; and (3) whether such discourses will constrain or facilitate their sense of agency in decision making.

Transnational grandparenting: the intersection of transnationalism and translocality

Using the case of transnational childcare by Chinese grandparents in Canada, this chapter presents a perspective on transnational grandparenting beyond a narrow cultural lens. Drawing on theories of transnationalism and translocality, it analyses three interconnected aspects of transnational grandparenting: (1) intergenerational love in the context of neoliberal care restructuring; (2) intergenerational families in the context of border control; and (3) generational reciprocity in the context of cultural rupture. It is concluded that an exploration of the intersection of transnationalism and translocality can contribute to a broader, contextualised perspective from which to understand the dynamics, dissonance, and effects of transnational grandparenting. This approach shows promise for revealing the complex intersections, including tensions, between mobility and locality, and thus allows a less linear and more open and inclusive conceptualisation of the manifold ways in which transnational grandparenting is constituted.