Fewer US grandparents are taking care of grandchildren, according to new data
Fewer grandparents were living with and taking care of grandchildren, there was a decline in young children going to preschool and more people stayed put in their homes in the first part of the 2020s compared with the last part of the 2010s, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released Thursday, reflecting some of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The latest figures from the most comprehensive survey of American life compare the years 2014-2018 and 2019-2023, timeframes before the COVID-19 pandemic and during the virus' spread. The American Community Survey data show how lives were changed and family relationships altered by the pandemic and other occurrences like the opioid crisis.
The survey of 3.5 million households covers more than 40 topics, including ancestry, fertility, marital status, commutes, veterans status, disability and housing.
The decrease in grandparents' taking care of their grandchildren is most likely because opioid-related deaths stabilized and then declined during the more recent timeframe since substance abuse is a leading reason grandparents find themselves raising grandchildren. A reduction in the number of incarcerated women also likely played a role, said Susan Kelley, a professor emerita of nursing at Georgia State University.
"It's very rarely for positive reasons that grandparents find themselves in this situation. Usually, it's a tragic situation in an adult child's life — either a death, incarceration or mental health issues which correlate with substance abuse," Kelley said. "Many grandparents thrive in that role, but there are still socioeconomic and emotional burdens on the grandparents."
She said a stronger economy in the most recent period may also be a reason the number of grandparents living with their grandchildren declined from 7.2 million to 6.8 million, as it made it less likely that adult children with their own children were seeking housing help from their parents.
The decline in the number of young children enrolled in preschool stemmed from an unwillingness to send young children to school and the closure of many schools at the height of the pandemic, according to the Census Bureau.
"These data show how the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on patterns of early childhood education," the bureau said in a separate report. "Future research will show if this was the start of a long-term trend or if enrollment will bounce back to prior levels."
Americans continued to age, with the median age rising to 38.7 from 37.9 and the nation's share of senior citizens hitting 16.8% from 15.2%. The share of households with a computer jumped to almost 95% from nearly 89%, as did the share of households with a broadband connection, to almost 90% from 80%.
Additionally, fewer people moved, and more people stayed put in the most recent time period compared with the earlier one, in many cases because of rising home values and the limited availability of homes to buy.
Home values increased by 21.7%, and the percentage of vacant homes dropped from 12.2% to 10.4%. The median home value jumped from $249,400 to $303,400 nationwide.
In some vacation communities popular with the wealthy, the bump was even more dramatic, such as in the county that is home to Aspen, Colorado, where it went from $758,800 to $1.1 million, and in the county which is home to Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts, where it jumped from $812,400 to $1.1 million.
