The age of the grandparent has arrived

    In reading the Economist article "The age of the grandparents has arrived," I learned about the declining and aging population across the globe and the potential implications that the presence (or lack thereof) a grandparent has on the grandchild(ren).  

    To begin, it is no surprise that the current population is living longer than those 50 or even 20 years ago due to increased access to medication and a higher standard of living for many parts of the world.  The article states that the "global life expectancy has risen from 51 to 72 since 1960."  The article then comments on the decreasing family size; a woman's expectation for children has been cut in half.  Therefore the ratio of grandparents to grandchildren is steadily declining across the globe.  

    The article goes on to compare the impact that the presence of a grandparent in the life of their grandchild can have.  The results vary from country to country which is extremely significant for this class because the ways in which the culture and society organizes itself has direct effects on the importance of grandparents' roles.  Some key examples were Senegal, Mexico, Britain, and Sweden.  

    In Senegal, the presence of a grandparent, especially a maternal grandmother, in the household increased the rate of mother's returning to or entering the workforce--thereby increasing the financial stability and wellbeing of the family.  The rate at which children stay in school is also increased with the presence of at least one grandparent in the home.  As discussed previously in the course, the externalities surrounding education are very high for a society, so a lower rate of drop outs from children to take care of their siblings or help their parents work is lowered.

    In Mexico, the main source of non-parental childcare are grandmothers.  The grandmothers are very close with their grandchildren and pass down important aspects of the history and culture.  The mother is then able to work while the grandmother cares for the children to better support the family than a family in which the mother cares for her children.  Furthermore, care from a grandmother is also more trustworthy (culturally) than with the strangers at a daycare.

    In Britain, the presence of grandparents as caregivers actually increase the rate of childhood obesity, but it is unclear of the exact reason for this correlation.  There is also proof that grandparents are also more likely than daycare workers to leave the children with fire hazards.  Furthermore, the use of grandparents in place of traditional daycare limit the parents' ability to move for work therefore lowering the potential for a higher-paying job.

    Sweden, by contrast, has very few grandparents caring for grandchildren because of subsidized daycares and extensive maternity and paternity leave.  This allows grandparents to continue working in the formal sector for a longer period of their life because they do not have to quit in order to babysit.  However, the lack of "need" for grandparents as caretakers forces the grandparents to be continually isolated from the family which often leads to loneliness and depression.  However, in this system, the country is able to gain the most productivity and economic success because more of the population can work because of supports in place.  

    Despite the vast array of effects of having a grandparent in the house, we will continue to see a decline in the number of grandchildren meaning a grandparent would be able to give more attention to the few grandchildren that they do have.  Economically, the shrinking population will impact the output of a country, but given the increasing longevity of humans, we can expect that working years will likely be expanded.

 https://www.economist.com/international/2023/01/12/the-age-of-the-grandparent-has-arrived