In the United States, one in every ten grandparents have grandchildren living with them?
1 out of 10.
10%.
That’s right! 2.7 million grandparents in the United States are taking the lead in raising their grandchildren, and 6.1 million children under the age of 18 are living with those grandparents.
Now that you have picked yourself up off the floor--don’t forget to dust off!--you are most likely wondering: WHY? (Unless you are one of those grandparents, that is!)
The leading reasons grandparents are assuming the parenting role for their grandchildren is because the childrens’ parents are:
· Drug addicted
· Pregnant teens
· In jail or prison
· Guilty of neglect and/or abuse
· Militarily deployed
Grandparents are raising their childrens’ children, and in some cases, they are raising their childrens’ grandchildren! To break this down further, 52% of the grandparents who have the lead role in raising grandchild are under the age of 60. That means that 48% of the grandparents are OVER the age of 60! Another sad statistic for this group is that 17% of grand-families are living below the poverty level!
Darling sixteen-year-old Fernlee in my recently released book, FERNLEE, is a perfect example of this increasing dynamic that is sweeping the land. Fernlee is being raised not by her grandmother, but by her great-grandmother! And all is fine in Fernlee’s world until the unspeakable but completely predictable occurs—her great-grandmother passes on, leaving Fernlee with no one by the foster system to step in and parent. To find out what happens to Fernlee, you will need to get the book! It is available on Amazon.com in paperback or as an eBook! Kindle Unlimited members can read for free! Fernlee’s story is not dissimilar to those of real children, which was motivations for writing the book.
Fortunately, for the real grandparents raising grandchildren there are efforts underway nationwide to assist grandparents to maintain good health and stress levels as they take on the responsibility of raising children a second time—perhaps a third time--in their life. But what happens when they are simply up in years or if they have chronic health conditions? What is the contingency plan? Is there one? Who is there for the children? It is a serious dilemma in our society that is only just now beginning to get the attention it needs, and not enough of it!
My facts come from a couple of sources:
However, if you are interested in reading further about this alarming trend, there are plenty of resources out there! Trust me.
Sadly,
Gera
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