“We often think of grandmothers as child care providers, but when they’re parenting children, they’re also child care consumers,” says LaShawnDa Pittman. “So how do they acquire child care for their grandchildren when they’re normally the people that parents leave the children with?” (Credit: iStockphoto)

“Increasing numbers of grandmothers across the United States are raising their grandchildren, many of them in poverty and grappling with a public assistance system not designed to meet their needs.

“For a new study, researchers interviewed 77 African-American grandmothers living in some of the poorest areas of south Chicago. The findings underscore the challenges these caregivers face, including dealing with divided loyalties between their grandchildren and their own children, navigating the complications of getting state resources they desperately need, and sacrificing their own well-being to take care of their grandchildren.”

“We often think of grandmothers as child care providers, but when they’re parenting children, they’re also child care consumers.”

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