What is it about?
Becoming a grandparent can be a major life transition. In this study, we show how becoming a grandparent impacts grandmothers' and grandfathers' health and employment trajectories. We see that while both grandparents earn less, the income drop is larger for grandmothers. Grandmothers also see larger declines in full-time employment, as well as a more pronounced increase in the risk of respiratory infections. At the same time, grandparenthood is also linked to fewer doctor visits for some mental and cardiovascular health problems, suggesting that this life transition may bring both costs and benefits.
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Why is it important?
Our findings show how grandchildren shape gender differences in health and employment in late adulthood. While it is well known how children contribute to the gender differences in employment and earnings, less is known about how grandchildren contribute to these gender differences.
Perspectives
Becoming a grandparent can bring a great deal of joy and meaning, and it is entirely understandable that many people want to work less in order to have more time with their grandchildren. At the same time, society should recognise the unpaid care work this may involve, especially when the costs appear to be so unevenly distributed between grandmothers and grandfathers.
Maria Lyster Andersen
Centre for Fertility and Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The cost of caring: Gendered health and labor market effects of grandparenthood, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, May 2026, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2535409123.
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