Policy Press
Three Grandparental childcare: a reconceptualisation of family policy regimes
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Abstract
In this chapter we argue that to understand the ways that policy, structure and culture all shape how grandmothers help to care for children, we need to re-think our approach to these issues. We need in particular to think about policies in terms of how they impact on mothers and grandmothers simultaneously, providing different and complex incentives and opportunities in each generation. This leads us to conceptualise childcare as something that is organised in the wider family, and to think of family care versus formal care when considering the wider impacts on individuals and society, rather than focussing on maternal versus non-maternal childcare. It also necessitates thinking about how cultures of gender, family and paid work might be influencing family-level discussions and negotiations. We show that conceptualising childcare as a family collaboration framed by policy and culture helps to explain substantial variations in grandmaternal childcare across Europe..
Abstract
In this chapter we argue that to understand the ways that policy, structure and culture all shape how grandmothers help to care for children, we need to re-think our approach to these issues. We need in particular to think about policies in terms of how they impact on mothers and grandmothers simultaneously, providing different and complex incentives and opportunities in each generation. This leads us to conceptualise childcare as something that is organised in the wider family, and to think of family care versus formal care when considering the wider impacts on individuals and society, rather than focussing on maternal versus non-maternal childcare. It also necessitates thinking about how cultures of gender, family and paid work might be influencing family-level discussions and negotiations. We show that conceptualising childcare as a family collaboration framed by policy and culture helps to explain substantial variations in grandmaternal childcare across Europe..
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of figures and tables v
- List of abbreviations vii
- Notes on contributors ix
- Introduction: widening the lens on grandparenting 1
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The demographic and welfare-state contexts of grandparenting
- The demography of grandparenthood in 16 European countries and two North American countries 23
- Grandparental childcare: a reconceptualisation of family policy regimes 43
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Grandparenting in contexts of economic and societal development
- Grandparenting in developing South East Asia: comparative perspectives from Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam 65
- Second-parenthood realities, third-age ideals: (grand)parenthood in the context of poverty and HIV/AIDS 89
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Transnational grandparenting
- Transnational grandparenting: the intersection of transnationalism and translocality 113
- Transnational grandmother–grandchild relationships in the context of migration from Lithuania to Ireland 131
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Gender, intersectionalities and grandparenting
- The composition of grandparent childcare: gendered patterns in cross-national perspective 151
- Class-based grandfathering practices in Finland 171
- Grandfamilies in the United States: an intersectional analysis 189
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Grandparental roles, agency and influence
- How grandparents influence the religiosity of their grandchildren: a mixed-methods study of three-generation families in the United States 211
- Can Chinese grandparents say no? A comparison of grandmothers in two Asian cities 233
- “I am not that type of grandmother”: (non)compliance with the grandmother archetype among contemporary Czech grandmothers 253
- Conclusions: the grandparents’ century? 271
- Index 285
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of figures and tables v
- List of abbreviations vii
- Notes on contributors ix
- Introduction: widening the lens on grandparenting 1
-
The demographic and welfare-state contexts of grandparenting
- The demography of grandparenthood in 16 European countries and two North American countries 23
- Grandparental childcare: a reconceptualisation of family policy regimes 43
-
Grandparenting in contexts of economic and societal development
- Grandparenting in developing South East Asia: comparative perspectives from Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam 65
- Second-parenthood realities, third-age ideals: (grand)parenthood in the context of poverty and HIV/AIDS 89
-
Transnational grandparenting
- Transnational grandparenting: the intersection of transnationalism and translocality 113
- Transnational grandmother–grandchild relationships in the context of migration from Lithuania to Ireland 131
-
Gender, intersectionalities and grandparenting
- The composition of grandparent childcare: gendered patterns in cross-national perspective 151
- Class-based grandfathering practices in Finland 171
- Grandfamilies in the United States: an intersectional analysis 189
-
Grandparental roles, agency and influence
- How grandparents influence the religiosity of their grandchildren: a mixed-methods study of three-generation families in the United States 211
- Can Chinese grandparents say no? A comparison of grandmothers in two Asian cities 233
- “I am not that type of grandmother”: (non)compliance with the grandmother archetype among contemporary Czech grandmothers 253
- Conclusions: the grandparents’ century? 271
- Index 285
