Grandparents, Adults and Care Giving Tasks: A National and Global Perspective - Essay Example

Grandparents, Adults and Care Giving Tasks: A National and Global Perspective In the 2009 study of the National Alliance for Care Giving, it is found out that “29% of the U.S. Adult population” is basically caregivers of their own parents or family members. Within this statistics are the African Americans who spend care giving for about 9-20 hours per week (Weaver, n.d.a). Care giving poses various challenges in terms of the care giver’s own health and resources, especially to those who belong to the low income group; however, their rights and privileges have been exercised.

But unfortunately, grandparent caregivers do not receive the same treatment and were often overlooked by the government. As the ageing population continues to grow, the demand for care givers also increases. Care giving is neither an easy task, nor a simple act of caring for a person since the elderly needs special attention due to their sensitivity to both physical and emotional aspects and that’s the reason why care givers experience burn out which could affect their work and personal lives.

They experience “anger, exhaustion, insomnia, depression and irritability” because of stress (Weaver, n.d.a). Even if care givers would experience these negative effects, they still manage to take care of other people. In a racial basis, it is found out that African Americans are most likely to be care givers and employees at the same time, taking the emotional and financial burden in their single body. Because of the efforts made to take care of the ageing population, care givers are given rights and opportunities and protection by the law.

Surprisingly, nations who are known for their deep relationship with family members are the one who could not provide proper benefits for care givers, such as Pakistan and Africa. Traditionally speaking, these two countries have high regard towards family relationship especially with caring for the elderly; however, their financial capability is not enough to support care givers’ needs. On the other hand, the care giver grandparents are either suffering from emotional and financial stress or both.

Because they are not receiving the same recognition with the biological parents of the child, care giving grandparents usually have harder time taking care with their grandchild’s school enrollment and other that needs legal papers (Weaver, n.d.b). Being a caregiver, grandparents might have emotional and physical instability due to the fact that they themselves need care givers. To quote a famous line by Ralph Waldo Emerson: “patience and fortitude conquer all things.” Care giving tasks are physically and emotionally demanding.

Therefore, it’s fair enough to provide them the rights and privileges. Grandparents, as care givers, still deserve even a simple recognition from their grandchildren and children. That alone, could be a way of relieving their stress and making them feel that they are important despite their age. References Weaver, M.S. (n.d.a.). Global perspectives on family care giving [Powerpoint slides]. Weaver, M.S. (n.d.b). Custodial grandparenting [Powerpoint slides]. Custodial Grandparents and their Grandchildren--A Response In the modern family structure, it is usual to have both parents working as a response to the recent economic recession.

Also, the growing number of single parenthood leaves the children by themselves in the same fashion which forces the grandparents to be the official caregivers of these children. In the article Custodial parents and their grandchildren by Elizabeth McConnell Haywood of the University of Virginia, it is accounted that the role of care giving may have advantages for the grandparents, but it does not reject the fact that care giving would be too physically, emotionally, and financially demanding for them.

According to Pillson-Millburn et al. (1996), custodial grandparents are expected to “juggle work responsibilities, smaller incomes, and a household not geared to child care” (as cited in Haywood, 1999, p. 367). This is supposed to be a task for the biological parents, but in the absence of parents or nannies, (e.g. single parenthood or working parents) the grandparents are expected to take over the responsibility which is an added burden to their own needs. When thinking about being an elderly, one can anticipate an obligation-free life; however, this expectation might be surrealistic for a number of custodial grandparents.

Since they are in charge of the rearing of their grandchildren, they must act as if they are the children’s biological parents, which is actually a demanding task. Some grandparents are having a hard time maintaining emotional balance for the children, in the case of divorced parents as they may feel “abandonment, neglect or abuse” (Haywood, 1999, p. 370). Furthermore, they are obliged to sustain financial needs of the children such as clothing, food, and education. Custodial grandparents may have the physical custody of the grandchildren; however, some problems might be encountered when it comes to legal affairs concerning the child, such as enrollment to a school, since they are not granted legal custody.

This and other circumstances only complicate the life of grandparents, as they too, have their own needs. There are several problems in custodial grand parenting which has to be confronted. Knowing that most grandparents are already considered “elderly,” it is hard to imagine how such huge task should be bestowed upon the grandparents. Balancing the tasks of giving what the children needs and sustaining oneself financially and emotionally, custodial grandparents usually are alienated from their own social world as they concentrate to be parents rather than plain grandparents.

They are likely to deprive themselves with the comfort that they deserve because of the parenting task which their children failed to portray. Custodial grand parenting only undermines the dream of a “valuable retirement” for grandparents who are bombarded with parental obligations to their grandchildren. The efforts of decreasing the number of “stressed custodial grandparents” should come from their children themselves, as support groups of custodial grandparents “are often short lived and poorly attended” (Haywood, 1999, p. 370). Reference Haywood, E.M. (1999).

Custodial grandparents and their grandchildren. The Family Journal, 7, 367-372.