RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN CHILDREN AND THEIR

GRANDPARENTS

IMPORTANCE OF OLDER GENERATIONS IN LIVES OF TODAY´S FAMILIES?

Leona StašováEliška Křišíková

University of Hradec Králové, Czech Republic

What role do the grandparents play in contemporary family life? What are the relationships of children and their grandparents?

What role can play grandparents for younger generations in the family life? (view of psychologists, sociologists, philosophers, educators, etc.)

Grandparents as:• Source of learning in basic knowledge• Source of inspiration and of instruction in the area of relationships, social

interactions and communication• Patterns of perception of others and appropriate empathy• Emotional support, help in critical moments• Natural pattern, ideal of authority• Support for the adoption of standards, rituals, traditions and values• Foster parents and primary educators• Economic support• …..

What is the reality?

?

Context of:• Individualization and fragmentation of family life,

disruption of some traditional family ties

• Demographic changes (higher life expectancy, higher age by childbirth, time distance between generations)

• Increasing generation gap (changing culture and society, technologies´ development, different values and norms)

Relationships of generations today?

Survey 2010

• Respondents were children aged 12-13 years (104 respondents) and young people aged 16-18 years (98 respondents).

• From this number there were 137 women (67.8 %) and 65 men (32.2 %).

• 202 questionnaires were processed in total.

• Everybody had at least one grandparent.

• 44,6% of respondents had both maternal and paternal grandaparents

„Are there differencies in relationships between children and their grandparents according to their

living arrangements?“

Living

together in one household x separately

1) Intensity of contacts with grandparents

• 87,1% of respondents were in contact with one of the grandparents

• 38,1% meet their grandparents every day (mostly because of the joint household) Interest in meeting grandparents more often

Respondents12-13 years

16-18 years Total

% of representation

Rather yes 61 45 106 52,5

Rather no 43 53 96 47,5

2) Ways of contact with grandparents

Way of communication

12-13 years

16-18 years Total %

Personal contact 79 87 166 82,2

Via telephone-calling 19 9 28 13,9

Via telephone-writing 1 1 2 0,9

E-mails 3 0 3 1,5

Writing letters 2 1 3 1,5

3) Leisure time with grandparents

chatting (49 %)housework and gardening (18 %) watching TV (6%) shopping (5%) something else (5%) (walking the dog, talking about money, playing cards, going for trips, learning on the computer and the Internet, etc.)

3% of respondents stated spending time with some kind of hobby

4) Content of communication

• Girls x grandmothers – housework, cooking, recipes, family, friends, relatives

• Girls x grandfathers – youth of grandfathers, World War II, communism, school, boys

• Boys x grandmothers – school, sports, girl friends, parents• Boys x grandfathers – technologies, do-it yourself, history,

girls

20,3% of respondents were fully satisfied with the content of communication

2,5% fully not satisfied

5) Evaluation of relationships´ quality

Very good

Rather good

Rather bad

Very bad

Maternal grandmother 61,8 26,9 9,7 1,6

Maternal grandfather 46,6 39,7 10,9 2,8

Paternal grandmother 38,1 42,7 11,1 8,2

Paternal grandfather 33,6 40,8 19,7 5,9

6) Grandparents as a pattern/idol (in %)

Patterns in the family

12-13 years

16-18 years Total

Parents 41.3 38.8 40.1

Siblings 8.7 4.1 6.4

Grandmother 6.7 6.1 6.4

Grandfather 7.7 3.1 5.5

Someone else 10.6 5.1 7.9

Nobody 25.0 42.9 33.7

Conclusion

• Grandparents are valuable family members no matter what is the living arrangement. (The children need grandparents but do the grandparents want to be grandparents?)

• No effect of the living arrangements on the quality of relationships - possibility to use the modern media for intergenerational communication

• Close connection of generational attitudes to the family climate and attitudes of parents towards the grandparents – (the worse situation in the paternal line)

• …………………………….