1. Marshalling Social Support for Grandmothers Raising Grandchildren
Symposium
Paper Presentation
Socio-Demographic Characteristics of Grandmothers in the Study
Maryam Kazempour-Esmati
Gerontology Program
Southern Gerontological Association Meetings
Friday April 7, 2017
Asheville, NC

2. Socio-Demographic Characteristics of Grandmothers
Participants attending the Sessions:
16 grandmothers completed the Sessions
Number of Grandchildren (GC)? Mean = 2
Birth parents living in the home? No = 14
Maryam
We have total of 16 grandmothers who came to the sessions

3. Socio-Demographic Characteristics of Grandmothers
Reason for Caring for Grandchildren:
Substance abuse 8
Child abuse/abandonment/neglect 6
Parent incarcerated 3
Parent mental illness 4
Parent unwilling to be part of child’s life 4
Parent death 2
Parent physical illness 1
Teenage pregnancy 2
Maryam

4. Socio-Demographic Characteristics of Grandmothers
Custodial Legal Arrangements:
Guardianship 6
Custodian 4
Grandmother’s Race/Ethnicity
Caucasians 6
African Americans
Attended programs to help with grandchild? Yes = 9
Grandmother’s Age? Mean = 59
Maryam
9 out of 16 attended other programs to get help

5. Socio-Demographic Characteristics of Grandmothers
Education:
High School Graduate 3
Some College 6
Graduate or Professional degree 2
Work Status:
Currently Unemployed 9
Work less than 35 hours/week 3
Work more than 35 hours/week 3
Household income
Less than Adequate 9
Adequate 4
More than Adequate 2
Maryam
Educated grandmothers
Majority not working
I have less than adequate … that’s what we expected

6. Socio-Demographic Characteristics of Grandmothers
How do you rate your physical health?
Poor 1
Not Very Good 2
Fair 3
Fairly good 8
Excellent 1
Health interfere with ability to take care of GC?
Not at All 8
Some 2
A Lot 1
A Great Deal 3
Maryam

7. Socio-Demographic Characteristics of Grandmothers
Satisfaction with the help from friends and family?
Not at All satisfied -
Not very satisfied 3
Somewhat satisfied 9
Quite satisfied 2
Completely satisfied 2
Do you think you need to increase the amount of
support available to you?
No 4
Yes 12
Maryam

8. Socio-Demographic Characteristics of Grandmothers
Reasons they need to increase social support
Financially, it would make life easier
Generations gap
Have more of their own social life
More resources can improve my caregiving skills
Are others available to help? Yes = 16
Family members, friends, church friends,
Neighbors, group support organizations
Kinship Camp program
Maryam
Money
Generation differences – Kids get out of control
Need to work on asking help