U.S. Census Bureau

UNITED STATES DEPT. OF COMMERCE

September 2, 1997                                      CB97-FS.09

MEMORANDUM FOR      Reporters, Editors, News Directors

From:               LaVerne Vines Collins
                    Chief, Public Information Office
                    
Subject:            Facts for Grandparent's Day

Each month, we plan to provide previously released facts
pertaining to selected events or holidays occurring that month.
Questions or comments should be directed to the Census Bureau's
Public Information Office (Tel: 301-457-3030; Fax: 301-457-3670;
E-mail: pio@census.gov). The following facts come from the March
1996 Current Population Survey.

            Census Facts For Grandparent's Day

A sizable number of the nation's children never go off to
grandma's (or grandpa's) house. That's because they already live
there. In 1996, about 4 million children (6 percent) lived in a
grandparent's home, nearly double the 2.3 million (4 percent) who
did so in 1980.

Of the children living in a grandparent's home in 1996:

   - More than one-third (1.4 million) had neither parent
     present. Another 1.9 million lived with their mother, but
     not their father, in their grandparent's home.

   - More than half (52 percent) were under 6 years old, while 30
     percent were between 6 and 11 and 18 percent were 12 to 17
     years old.

Of the 2.4 million families maintained by grandparents who had
one or more of their grandchildren living with them in 1996:

   - Nearly half (48 percent) were families with both
     grandparents present and statistically the same percentage
     (46 percent) were maintained by grandmothers with no
     grandfather present.

   - Only 19 percent of these families' grandparent householders
     were 65 and older, while 48 percent were 50 to 64, and 33
     percent were younger than 50.


Source: U.S. Census Bureau
Public Information Office
(301) 763-3030

Last Revised: April 12, 2001 at 03:01:54 PM

[an error occurred while processing this directive]