Grandparents need a break, too

KERA's Think

KERA

Society & Culture, 071003, Kera, Think, Krysboyd

4.8 • 861 Ratings

🗓️ 5 May 2025

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Grandparents raising their grandchildren have taken on a “second shift” of parenting — and it’s exhausting them. Faith Hill, staff writer at The Atlantic, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how lack of childcare is reshaping what used to be the golden years of grandparenting, how it’s changing what retirement looks like, and why saying “no” to family is so difficult. Her article is “Grandparents Are Reaching Their Limit.”

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Transcript

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0:00.0	If there's one thing we know about social media, it's that misinformation is everywhere,
0:07.2	especially when it comes to personal finance.
0:10.1	Financially inclined from Marketplace is a podcast you can trust to help you get serious about your money
0:16.0	so you can build a life you've always dreamed of.
0:19.5	I'm the host, Janelli Espinal, and each week I ask experts important money questions,
0:25.7	like how to negotiate job offers, how to choose a college that you can afford, and how to talk
0:32.0	about money with friends and family. Listen to financially inclined wherever you get your podcasts.
0:38.3	Conventional Wisdom says that grandparents are supposed to enjoy quality time with their small descendants,
0:56.4	indulge their whims and remain blind to their flaws, and then hand them back over to their parents
1:01.7	just before the sugar-fueled, sleep-deprived misbehavior kicks in.
1:05.9	That does sound pretty delightful, but can it work that way in families where grandparents are stepping in as
1:11.6	full-time child care providers? From KERA in Dallas, this is think. I'm Chris Boyd. Rising daycare
1:19.2	costs and shrinking availability have driven many young parents to call on their own parents to help
1:24.3	with this, and many grandparents feel compelled to help. But no matter how much
1:28.7	they love their children and grandchildren, these arrangements often represent a major departure
1:33.7	from how older people imagined spending their retirement years. Faith Hill is a staff writer at the
1:39.5	Atlantic where you can read her article. Grandparents are reaching their limit. Faith, welcome back to think.
1:46.1	Hi, thanks so much for having me. Just so we set the terms here, we're not talking in this conversation
1:52.1	about grandparents who step in to be primary guardians for their grandchildren and essentially raise them.
1:57.9	This conversation is about grandparents who are acting as care providers for children,
2:03.7	which can like run the gamut from a few hours of babysitting here and there to full-time daycare.
2:08.1	Is that right? Yeah, that's right. That's right. I mean, there's a big spectrum, as you say,
	...

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