Grandparents Raising Grandchildren

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December 16, 2011 led to a wonderful bond and an unexpected change in my life. My son and his girlfriend were young parents, barely 17 years old, I ended up providing everything my granddaughter needed from the moment she was born. After living with me for 20 months in a moment of rage my son and his girlfriend took my granddaughter in the middle of the night and left without a trace. Typically, a grandparent was the one that spoiled the grandchildren and then sent them home with the parents. Now they have to take on the role of parent when the child’s parents are incapable or disinclined to parent sufficiently (Administration for Children And Familie, Region IV). “According to the 2005 American Communities Survey, there are an estimated 5.7 million grandparents living with grandchildren in their households; 2.4 million co-resident grandparents are the primary caregivers for their grandchildren, representing 42% of all grandparents residing with their grandchildren (Administration for Children And Familie, Region IV).” The reasons grandparents are raising their grandchildren is because of the increase in financial inability, parental drug addictions, and adolescent single mothers. It takes a lot of money to provide everything a child needs and with cost of living increasing parents often times can no longer provide for their children this leads to the grandparents offering financial support. “The economy has also played a role. The rate of unemployment among workers ages 22 to 34 is double that of 55- to 64-year-olds (Facciolo).” The decrease income could be from several factors; unemployment rates have increased, cost of living has increased, divorce, drug use, or even mental illness (Child Welfare Information Gateway... ... middle of paper ... ...m/blog/matter-personality/201106/grandparents-raising-grandchildren>. Facciolo, Christine. "More than 2.5 million grandparents take on role of parent." The (Wilmington, Del.) News Journal. Wilmington, 12 April 2012. Article. 31 October 2013. . NCBI. "Grandparents Raising Grandchildren." U.S. Library National Library. 2009. 2013. . Office on Child Abuse and Neglect, Children's Bureau., ICF International. Protecting Children in Families Affected by Substance Use Disorders. 2009. 8 November 2013. . U.S. Census Bureau. "Grandparents." Profile America Facts for features. Newsroom, 2010. 27 October 2013. .

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