The Effects of Grandparent Care on Children’s Developmental Outcomes

Wei-Jun Jean Yeung, New York University
Rebecca Glauber, New York University

Despite recent research on the contours of grandparent childcare, research regarding the outcomes of grandparent childcare is relatively scant. Our study examines an important, and as of yet, unanswered question: what are the effects of grandparent childcare on children’s development? We also examine grandparent care as a potentially important mediating variable in the effects of maternal employment on children’s development. Using children’s time diary data and stylized survey data collected in the 1997 and 2002 waves of the Child Development Supplement (PSID-CDS), we find that preschool children from poor or near-poor families spend significantly more time with grandparents and other relatives than do children from non-poor families. We will utilize child outcome data from the second wave of the PSID-CDS and a change score model to examine the effects of grandparent care on children’s developmental outcomes, which include children’s cognitive ability, socioemotional adjustment, and physical health.