Families have always taken care of one another. Grandparents may suddenly find themselves raising a grandchild while managing their own health needs. An adult child may be helping an aging parent while also caring for children. For multigenerational homes, the caregiver may be responsible for helping one person with medications while another needs a ride to school.
September is Kinship Caregiver Month, an opportunity to recognize families in which relatives or close family friends step in to care for children when their parents cannot. More than 2.4 million children in the United States live in these “grandfamilies” or kinship families with over 7 million grandparents living with relatives under 18. Approximately one of three of those grandchildren is under six. And many of these grandparent caregivers are older; more than half of the caregiver grandparents are 60 or over.
Kinship arrangements can provide children with stability, connection, and a sense of belonging. But they can also create some very real challenges for the people providing that care.
When caregiving changes generations
Kinship caregiving can begin unexpectedly because of illness, death, substance use, incarceration, a mental health crisis, or other circumstances that leave a parent unable to care for a child. That means families may have little time to prepare for a major change in responsibilities. Among the challenges they may face:
- Financial pressure. Adding another person to a household means additional food, clothing, transportation, healthcare, school, and other expenses. This can be particularly difficult for an older caregiver living on retirement income. In fact, 18% of grandparents responsible for grandchildren live below the poverty line.
- Managing health. Older caregivers may already be managing chronic conditions, medications, medical appointments, mobility changes, or other health needs. Adding full-time responsibility for a child can make it harder to prioritize their own appointments, exercise, sleep, and other routines.
- Navigating systems. School enrollment, healthcare decisions, insurance, public benefits, guardianship, and custody can become complicated when the person caring for a child isn’t their parent. Depending on the family’s legal arrangement, caregivers may encounter hurdles when enrolling a child in school or obtaining medical treatment.
- Tending emotional needs. Children entering kinship care may be coping with separation from a parent, grief, instability, or other difficult experiences. The caregiver isn’t simply taking on meals, homework, and transportation; they may also be helping a child feel safe and adjust to significant changes.
- Adjusting to a different life. An older adult who expected retirement, travel, more time with friends, or simply a slower pace may suddenly return to school schedules, activities, appointments, and day-to-day parenting. That transition can be rewarding, but it can also bring stress, isolation, and a loss of time for personal needs.
Supporting one for all
When one person becomes the center of a family’s caregiving system, helping that person can benefit everyone. Home care is one way families can share some of the workload.
Help with everyday tasks can free up time and energy. Assistance with meal preparation, light housekeeping, bathing, dressing, mobility, or errands means a family caregiver has fewer responsibilities competing for their attention. Skilled support can take some healthcare responsibilities, like managing a chronic condition or medications, so family members can remain involved without becoming the household’s nurse. And, respite care can provide time to recharge. Having trusted help gives caregivers time to attend their own medical appointments, take a grandchild to an activity, see a friend, exercise, or simply rest.
Multigenerational homes have a particular challenge: very different schedules, abilities, responsibilities, and needs. Good organization can reduce the number of things one person has to keep entirely in their head. A few simple tools can help:
- A shared calendar can include medical appointments, school events, medication refills, caregiver schedules, activities, transportation needs, and important deadlines.
- A central information folder, either paper or digital, can keep emergency contacts, medication lists, healthcare information, school contacts, insurance details, legal documents, and other frequently needed information easily accessible.
- A household support plan can make responsibilities visible and easier to share. To create your household support plan, start with four simple questions:
- Who needs support? List everyone in the household who regularly needs assistance.
- What needs to happen? Include everyday needs such as meals, medications, bathing, homework, transportation, appointments, shopping, laundry, or companionship.
- Who can help? Don’t automatically put one person’s name beside every task. Consider other relatives, friends, neighbors, professional caregivers, schools, community programs, and healthcare providers.
- Where are the gaps? Look for responsibilities that are difficult to cover, happen too frequently, require specialized skills, or consistently leave the caregiver exhausted. Those gaps can show you where outside support may make the biggest difference.
Care across generations can bring benefits for everyone involved. Making that care sustainable means remembering something important: the person holding everyone else up deserves support, too. Four Seasons Healthcare Solutions is here to ensure that older adults have what they need to continue nurturing grandfamilies.
