Here we are, some of us, at a time in our lives where we have raised our families and sent them on their way. We are preparing for the glory days of retirement, and, suddenly, many of us find ourselves raising children all over again - but this time it's our GRANDCHILDREN. According to the US census, the number of baby boomers with the sole responsibility of raising grandchildren is rising.
What accounts for this? Did we do something wrong? How did we get into this position? The children of baby boomers were raised differently than the boomers themselves. There is a very high divorce rate which means that many of these grandkids are growing up with only one parent, so their lives are more unstable. People are more transient these days, moving where the jobs are, which adds to the instability. The increase in AIDS, drug addiction and other addictions, and the deaths that arise from this, also account for the need of grandparents stepping in to help.
While most of the boomers are happy to help, there are many things to be taken into consideration. Economically-speaking, plans need to be made for these children in case of the grandparents' deaths. And the boomers need to keep up their health and not let the stress of this be detrimental to their well-being. While it is rewarding, it is important to deal with the stresses openly and honestly and to find ways to deal with those stresses.
More information on this can be found in an interesting article on the internet at
http://www.babyboomernow.com/blog/2009/03/28/why-are-baby-boomers-raising-grandchildren.htmlTags: ...
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