by Ken Canfield, Ph.D.

Every grandparenting story is unique. You have a one-of-a-kind relationship with each of your precious grandkids, and each of them is special in different ways compared to the others. This surely helps keep you on your toes as it also increases the joy and the rewards of your role.

While there are those distinctive qualities of your grandparenting, it often helps to step back and look at the landscape of grandparenting on a national or even global scale.

The State of Grandparenting

Here is a collection of available statistics and trends as a snapshot of modern grandparenting:

  • Worldwide, there are more than 1.5 billion grandparents, a number that’s projected to be 2.1 billion by 2050.
  • Approximately 1 million adults become new grandparents each year in the U.S., a pace that will bring the total number of grandparents to about 80 million by 2035. If you include the number of seniors who do not have natural children but who are grandparent figures for nieces, nephews, and other family members—as well as for neighbors and young people in their churches or communities—both numbers are significantly larger.
  • Most people achieve grandparent status when they are in their fifties. However, 37% of North American adults became grandparents in their forties, with the average age of a new grandparent being 47. (That lower age is due in large part to family demographics in minority and urban communities.) Currently, 60% of baby boomers are grandparents.
  • Recent survey research notes that 54% of people who are grandparents live within 25 miles of their grandchildren, and many of the remaining 46% wish they lived closer.
  • 72% of grandparents believe that being a grandparent is the single most important role at this point in their lives, and they are quick to say that this role provides them the greatest relational satisfaction.
  • 65% of involved grandparents say they are better grandparents than they were parents.
  • 70% believe that being an involved grandparent brings them closer to their adult children.

Never before have so many grandparents been tasked with being parents again. One of the fastest-growing family demographics is grandparents becoming the custodial or functional parents of their grandchildren—and caring for grandchildren every day is a challenging task! In the U.S., 6.7 million people lived with their grandchildren in 2021, and about 33% of those were primary caregivers for their grandkids.

I have talked with grandparents who have suddenly had their grandchildren show up at their front door, due to an adult child’s incarceration, addictive behaviors, divorce, desertion, and even unexpected death. These admirable individuals are raising their grandchildren while dealing with their own health, emotional, and financial challenges. Yet, despite the big 24/7 demands, these grandparents will tell you, “I never expected this, I certainly didn’t choose to do this, but I am going to be there for my grandchild(ren) for however long I’m needed.”

This is a bold expression of faith, hope, and love.

Here are more statistics showing that we often put our money where our mouths—and our hearts—are:

  • Grandparents spend over $60 billion every year on their grandkids, including $32 billion on education-related support. This lavish spending isn’t all about spoiling those beloved grandchildren; these grandparents rightly view many of these monetary gifts as investments in the child’s future.
  • A 2024 study reported that, on average, grandparents spend just under $4,000 per year on their grandkids. A breakdown of different areas of spending shows that the yearly total could easily be almost twice that amount.
  • 62% of today’s grandparents have provided financial support to their adult children and grandchildren in the last twelve months, covering everything from the mortgage, education, daycare, cars, vacations, gifts, and health care to the basic day-to-day expenses.
  • Grandparents support charities as well. In the US, 45% of the giving to nonprofit organizations comes from grandparents. They also account for 42% of all consumer spending on gifts. These numbers aren’t surprising considering the estimate that grandparents in North America control 68% of the accumulated wealth.
  • Today’s longer life expectancy means people spend more time as a grandparent. Imagine living in 1900, when the average life span was 47 years! Today you may live one-third of your life as a grandparent and as much as 15% of your life as a great-grandparent.

Uniting Generations

When you observe grandmothers and grandfathers interacting with their grandchildren—listening, learning, and growing in love and respect for one another—you can sense the power of this generational synergy. A caring grandmother will perceive things that re-energize her deep-seated mothering intuition and quickly become catalysts for family renewal. This grandmotherly glow parallels a similar occurrence in the minds and hearts of grandfathers. Not only do grandfathers mellow with age, but they also ponder their legacy and how they will pass on life-giving values to future generations. Our grandkids matter, and that motivates us in new and exciting ways.

Yes, your grandparenting story is unique in many ways. Maybe you’re basking in the joy of relating to your grandkids and everything is great, or you may be struggling because of relationship issues or distance from your grandkids or some other concern. Or maybe you’re experiencing some combination of the joy and sorrow from day to day.

But we all share the conviction that grandkids matter, and we want to do our best for them. Whatever grandparenting opportunities might be before us, our ability to be intentional, tune in, and connect on a heart level with our children and grandchildren will determine our impact on their lives.

Do you consider your grandparenting situation to be “typical” or “unusual”? What makes it that way? Give some feedback and connect with other like-minded grandparents our Facebook page here.