Step-grandparental investment: role of childhood co-residence with grandchild’s parent

Abstract

The prevalence of divorce in both parental and grandparental generations has led to a rise in the number of children who now have families that include both biological and step-grandparents. Despite the thorough examination of biological grandparents’ contributions in recent literature, there remains a scarcity of studies focusing on the investment of step-grandparents. Using population-based data from a sample of 2,607 parents in Germany, we assessed grandparental investment through financial support and assistance with childcare of grandparents (N = 4,414) and step-grandparents (N = 531). The study revealed that step-grandparents provided lower levels of investment in their grandchildren compared to biological grandparents, with step-grandfathers contributing more than step-grandmothers. Furthermore, the study identified that a longer duration of co-residence between step-grandparents and parents earlier in life did not correspond to an increase or decrease in step-grandparental investment. In line with the scarce literature on step-grandparental investment, these findings indicate that mating effort may be the most important motivation for step-grandparental investment.