National Grandparents Day: Facts & Stats On Modern Day Grandparents

In 1970, Marian McQuade initiated a campaign to establish a day to honor grandparents. In 1978, President Jimmy Carter signed a federal proclamation, declaring the first Sunday after Labor Day as National Grandparents Day. This day has been celebrated every year since to honor our nation’s grandparents. The U.S. Census Bureau presents statistics about their role in our society.

 7.2 million – The number of grandparents whose grandchildren under age 18 were living with them in 2014. Source: 2014 American Community Survey, Table B10050. http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/14_1YR/B10050

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Grandparents as Caregivers

2.6 million – The number of grandparents responsible for the basic needs of one or more grandchildren under age 18 living with them in 2014. Of these caregivers, 1.6 million were grandmothers and 1.0 million were grandfathers. Source: 2014 American Community Survey, Table B10056. http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/14_1YR/B10056

 547,722 – The number of grandparents responsible for grandchildren under age 18 whose income was below the poverty level in the past 12 months, compared with the 2.1 million grandparent caregivers whose income was at or above the poverty level. Source: 2014 American Community Survey, Table B10059. http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/14_1YR/B10059

$49,700 – The median income for families with grandparent householders responsible for grandchildren under age 18. Among these families, where a parent of the grandchildren was not present, the median income was $37,044. Source: 2014 American Community Survey, Table B10010. http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/14_1YR/B10010   

1.8 million – The number of married (including separated) grandparents responsible for caring for their grandchildren. Source: 2014 American Community Survey, Table B10057. http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/14_1YR/B10057

1.5 million – The number of grandparents in the labor force responsible for their own grandchildren under age 18. Among them, 383,694 were 60 years or older. Source: 2014 American Community Survey, Table B10058. http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/14_1YR/B10058

671,119 – The number of grandparents who had a disability and were responsible for their grandchildren. Source: 2014 American Community Survey, Table B10052. http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/14_1YR/B10052

1.8 million – The number of grandparents responsible for their grandchildren who were living in owner-occupied housing, compared with 831,146 that were living in renter-occupied housing. Source: 2014 American Community Survey, Table B10061. http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/14_1YR/B10061

481,713 – The number of foreign-born grandparents responsible for their own grandchildren under age 18. This contrasts with 2.1 million native-born grandparent caregivers. Source: 2014 American Community Survey, Table B10053. http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/14_1YR/B10053

2.0 million – The number of grandparents responsible for their grandchildren who spoke only English. Another 248,942 spoke another language, but spoke English “very well;” 384,077 spoke another language and spoke English less than “very well.” Source: 2014 American Community Survey, Table B10054.  http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/14_1YR/B10054

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Grandchildren

5.8 million – The number of children under age 18 living with a grandparent householder in 2014. Nearly half or 2.7 million were under age 6. Source: 2014 American Community Survey, Table B10001. http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/14_1YR/B10001

3.1 million – The number of children in 2015 who were living with both of their grandparents, regardless of whether they were also living with their parents. Source: America’s Families and Living Arrangements: 2014, Table C4. www.census.gov/hhes/families/files/cps2015/tabC4-all.xls