A recent study by the Pew Research Center examines trends in grandparenting. Its analysis of 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data indicates that one in 10 children lives in a household with a grandparent. About 41%, or 2.9 million, of those children are also primarily being raised by that grandparent. This figure rose slowly throughout the last decade and spiked – a 6% increase – from 2007 to 2008.
The phenomenon of grandparents serving as primary caregivers is most common among blacks and Hispanics, but the sharpest rise since the most recent recession has been among whites.
