“Young people need something stable to hang on to – a culture connection, a sense of their own past, a hope for their own future. Most of all, they need what grandparents can give them.” – Jay Kesler
Grandparents are a blessing, they provide wisdom, assistance, and if they can, they will most likely provide some financial support. The greatest of all, -they love their grandchildren deeply and unconditionally.
Yet this blessing might be taking a toll on them, many of us, forget that they are aging, and should be enjoying the fruits of their labor without stress. Articles have surfaced and state that more and more generation X and Y’ers that have children need their parents support as they must go to work to survive. Within the 2011 Government of the United States Census it states “…Family members continue to serve as an important source of child care for preschoolers. In 2011, 24 percent of preschoolers were regularly cared for by their grandparents, ……The percentage of preschoolers cared for by grandparents has risen from 1997, when it was 21 percent….” Its 2016, image in the rate now…
This is due to many evident and available indicators, household incomes are declining, child care is costing more, and the cost to raise a child is higher. These factors combined with a downward economy makes any person realize that money is running short for the “middle-class”
In today's financial times, both parents need to work, terming “dual income households” yet the blunt truth that the house hold with two parents working is making around 45K gross.
So for those that have the “grandparent resource” help them manage the house, and take the time to care for their grandchildren; you should be very grateful and fully aware that your output cost for childcare is now drastically decreased.
So before you go out on a night on the town; think about this: How much money would you be spending for your children to attend childcare? -Its not cheap, and each state and the province is elevating, regardless of the available subsidies provided by the government. Daycare in the United States is costly; and if you have two children, it is tragic.
YOU SHOULD offer the grandparents something for helping you out. Here some justifiable offers:
Bottle of their favorite beverage
Gift certificate for a massage, nails,
Trip – remember you would be spending at least 1K per child for childcare totaling 12k, so buying them an 800$ vacation is justifiable.
Movie passes
Subscription to their favorite newspaper and/or magazines
Child Care Costs
Mothers with children under 5 were more likely to make child care payments than mothers with children only between 5 and 14 (46 percent and 23 percent, respectively).
While the cost of child care increased over time, the percent of monthly family income spent on child care stayed constant between 1997 and 2011, at around 7 percent.
Families in poverty who paid for child care in 2011 spent a greater proportion of their monthly income on child care than did families at or above the poverty line (30 percent compared with 8 percent).
The statistics in this report were collected from January through April 2011 in the Survey of Income and Program Participation.
CHILDCARE—
When I had the pleasure in stumbling upon this Ad for a caregiver/babysitter at the employers home:
Required duties: “..Wash, iron and press clothing and household linens; Travel with family on trips and assist with child supervision and housekeeping duties; Shop for food and household supplies; Perform light housekeeping and cleaning duties; Assume full responsibility for household in absence of parents. Tend to emotional well-being of children; Supervise and care for children; Prepare and serve nutritious meals; Organize, activities such as games and outings for children; Maintain a safe and healthy environment in the home; Keep records of daily activities and health information regarding children; Instruct children in personal hygiene and social development; Discipline children according to the methods requested by the parents; Bathe, dress and feed infants and children; Help children with homework Must show: Initiative; Effective interpersonal skills; Flexibility; Organized..” and the pay is between $6.00-9.00per hour.
Some interesting statistics: The U.S. Census Bureau (2014) reports that 10 percent of children in the United States live with their grandparent(s). Canada doesn't worry we will not forget you, your government did a study released in 2015 “Grandparents living with their grandchildren, 2011.” Cited more than 600K families are living with their grandparents to assist in the general care of their grandchildren and contribute to the cost of living.
And according to 1998 statistics, only 11 percent of grandchildren living with a grandparent did so because of the death of one or both parents.
Shelley Emling Senior Editor, The Huffington Post : Proof That The Grandparent-Grandchild Bond Is Stronger Than Ever
Congress passed the legislation proclaiming the first Sunday after Labor Day as National Grandparents’ Day and, on August 3, 1978, then-President Jimmy Carter signed the proclamation. The statute cites the day’s purpose: “…to honor grandparents, to give grandparents an opportunity to show love for their children’s children, and to help children become aware of strength, information, and guidance older people can offer”.
National Grandparents Day has been celebrated since 1978, when President Jimmy Carter signed a federal proclamation eight years after Marian McQuade, a West Virginia housewife, started a campaign to establish the day.
McQuade and her husband, Joe, had 15 children, 43 grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren.
The census also notes that 2.6 million
grandparents were responsible for the basic needs of one or more grandchildren under age 18 living with them in 2014. Of these caregivers, 1.6 million were grandmothers and 1 million were grandfathers.
Grandparents are hardly rolling in the dough. In the U.S., 547,722 grandparents caring for grandchildren under age 18 had incomes below the poverty level in the last 12 months compared with the 2.1 million grandparent caregivers whose income was at or above the poverty level.
The median income for families with grandparent householders responsible for grandchildren under age 18 is $49,700. Of those families in which a parent of those kids was not present, the median income fell to $37,044.
The census notes that 1.8 million of those grandparents caring for their grandchildren were married. That includes those grandparents who were separated.
Many of the grandparents also had jobs. The census reports that 1.5 million of the grandparents caring for their grandchildren under age 18 were in the labor force. Of that number, 383,694 of the grandparents were age 60 or older.
In the U.S. 1.8 million of the grandparents responsible for their grandkids lived in owner-occupied housing, compared with 831,146 who were living in renter-occupied housing.
