Table 1.
Descriptive Demographic Statistics of Grandmothers and Target Grandchildren (N = 733)
| Variable | n | % | Variable | n | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marital Status | Target Grandchild Age | ||||
| Married | 352 | 48.0 | 4-7 years | 235 | 32.1 |
| Divorced | 159 | 21.7 | 8-10 years | 194 | 26.5 |
| Widowed | 102 | 13.9 | 11-14 years | 206 | 28.1 |
| Single, never married | 66 | 9.0 | 15-17 years | 98 | 13.4 |
| Separated | 49 | 6.7 | |||
| Living with partner (not married) | 5 | 0.7 | Formal Legal Arrangements | ||
| Formal custody | 271 | 37.0 | |||
| Education | Foster parent status | 16 | 2.2 | ||
| Less than 5 years | 5 | 0.7 | Adoption | 90 | 12.3 |
| 5-8 years | 19 | 2.6 | Guardianship | 215 | 29.3 |
| Some high school | 99 | 13.5 | Currently seeking legal custody | 69 | 9.4 |
| High school graduate | 205 | 28.0 | None | 72 | 9.8 |
| Some college | 260 | 35.5 | |||
| College graduate | 95 | 13.0 | Relationship of Target Grandchild's | ||
| Graduate/professional training | 50 | 6.8 | Parent to Grandmother | ||
| Son | 227 | 31.0 | |||
| Residential Locale | Step-son | 7 | 1.0 | ||
| Urban | 350 | 47.7 | Daughter | 482 | 65.8 |
| Rural | 238 | 32.5 | Step-daughter | 16 | 2.2 |
| Suburban | 141 | 19.2 | Missing data | 1 | 0.1 |
| Other | 4 | 0.5 | |||
| Work Status | Reasons for Careb | ||||
| Not working | 202 | 27.6 | Child abandonment | 205 | 28.0 |
| Retired | 144 | 19.6 | Physical or emotional abuse | 201 | 27.4 |
| Working full- or part-time | 329 | 44.9 | Removed from parental custody | 225 | 30.7 |
| Full-time homemaker | 41 | 5.6 | Parents' mental health problems | 218 | 29.7 |
| Seeking employment | 17 | 2.3 | Parents' teen pregnancy | 133 | 18.1 |
| Parental substance abuse | 406 | 55.4 | |||
| lncomea | Parents' incarceration | 312 | 42.6 | ||
| Under 10,000 | 123 | 16.8 | Parents' HIV-AIDS | 11 | 1.5 |
| $10,000-$15,000 | 109 | 14.9 | Other (not AIDS) health problems | 114 | 15.6 |
| $16,000-$20,000 | 85 | 11.6 | One of the parents deceased | 47 | 6.4 |
| $21,000-$25,000 | 90 | 12.3 | |||
| $26,000-$35,000 | 112 | 15.3 | |||
| $36,000-$50,000 | 99 | 13.5 | |||
| $51,000-$75.000 | 59 | 8.0 | |||
| $76,000-$100,000 | 19 | 2.6 | |||
| $101,000-$125,000 | 4 | 0.7 | |||
| More than $125,000 | 5 | 0.7 | |||
| Missinga | 28 | 3.8 |
a
Missing data were less than 10% and mean substitution was used for imputation in the data analyses.
b
Respondents were asked to report any and all reasons for assuming care of the target grandchild that applied to their situation. Grandmothers were excluded if the deceased parent was their own child.