American Indian/Alaskan Native grandparents raising grandchildren: findings from the Census 2000 Supplementary Survey.
This article documents the prevalence and national profile of American Indian/Alaskan Native (AI/AN) grandparents who are raising their grandchildren, based on data from the American Community Survey/Census 2000 Supplementary Survey. In 2000 there were estimated to be nearly 53,000 AI/AN grandparent caregivers age 45 and older in the United States. Almost half of the caregiving grandparents had been raising a grandchild for five years or longer. The findings reveal a portrait of grandparents committed to raising their grandchildren despite the fact that many were living in extreme poverty, with ill health, and with limited resources and services. One-third of grandparent caregivers were living below the poverty line, and only one-quarter of these were receiving public assistance. Even when compared with their noncaregiving AI/AN peers, grandparents raising grandchildren were disproportionately female, poor, living with a functional disability, and living in overcrowded conditions. Implications for social work practice are presented and recommendations for policy and research are discussed.
Fuller-Thomson
Esme
E
Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto, ON, Canada. esme.fuller.thomson@utoronto.ca
Minkler
Meredith
M
D000368:Aged; D000413:Alaska; D019352:Censuses; D002648:Child; D002654:Child Care; D002668:Child Rearing / Q000208:ethnology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005190:Family / Q000208:ethnology*; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016901:Intergenerational Relations / Q000208:ethnology*; D004930:Inuit / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011203:Poverty / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015995:Prevalence; D012946:Social Welfare / Q000208:ethnology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States