Intergenerational Caregiving and Family Dynamics
Summary
Intergenerational caregiving encompasses the exchange of time, resources and emotional support across family generations. As population ageing coincides with changing gender roles, labour market pressures and varied welfare regimes, families have adapted diverse strategies to reconcile work and care. Grandparents often assume pivotal childcare roles, alleviating costs for younger parents and enabling labour force participation, while adult children may in turn provide assistance with daily living or healthcare to older kin. Multigenerational coresidence has persisted in many regions as a buffer against economic hardship and as a cultural norm, yet its prevalence and form vary widely. Caregiving arrangements intersect with social policies, gendered expectations and health trajectories, producing both benefits—such as enhanced wellbeing and intergenerational solidarity—and risks, including stress, role overload and unequal distribution of care labour. Research highlights how custodial grandparenting, three-generation households and non-coresiding support each shape family dynamics and wellbeing outcomes in distinct ways, with implications for social cohesion and policy design on a global scale.
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Intergenerational Caregiving and Family Dynamics publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in intergenerational caregiving and family dynamics across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Intergenerational caregiving: Reciprocal support and care exchanged between family members of different generations.
Multigenerational coresidence: A household arrangement in which at least three generations live under one roof.
Custodial grandparenting: A form of caregiving where grandparents assume primary responsibility for raising grandchildren.
Non-coresiding grandparents: Grandparents who provide childcare or support without sharing a household.
Intergenerational transfers: The flow of resources, time or services between family members across age cohorts.
References
- Single Motherhood and Multigenerational Coresidence in Europe. Population and Development Review (2023).
- The role of duty, gender and intergenerational care in grandmothers’ parenting of grandchildren: a phenomenological qualitative study. BMC Nursing (2024).
- Grandparenting, health, and well-being: a systematic literature review. European Journal of Ageing (2022).
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