Your Lifestyle

Grandparenting

While the numbers of grandparents in Australia who are the main carer for their grandchildren appear to be on the rise, exact figures are unknown due to many home arrangements being relatively informal and the exclusion of the Indigenous extended kinship setup. Records from Centrelink indicate that more than 7000 people aged over 60 receive the relevant benefit, but it excludes grandparents aged between 50 and 60 who also care for children. The Australian Bureau of Statistics has recently released new statistics of family characteristics based on the 2003 survey.

From the Family Characteristics, Australia report, there were 22,500 grandparent families with children aged 0-17 years in Australia in 2003. In 39% of grandparent families, the younger partner or lone grandparent was younger than 55 years, while the majority, 61%, was aged 55 years or more. In around one-third, 34%, one or both grandparents were employed. Over two-thirds, 71%, of the 31,000 children in grandparent families saw their natural parent(s) living elsewhere. To read more statistics from this survey, visit the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Further estimates can be found in the COTA report on Grandparents Raising Grandchildren.