This research report looks at the dynamics of ageing in rural families through the lens of young people’s experiences, and begins to explore relationships between grandchildren and their grandparents.
Grandparenting merits critical research exploration, as roles and practices are likely to vary in different social settings and across the life course of each generation and cohort. This study is designed to map the perspectives of a sample of young people who have spent a good part of their formative years living in rural communities in the South Island.
This report was produced for the Families Commission Blue Skies Fund by Sally Keeling, Kathy Glasgow and Carolyn Morris.
Purpose
This project is based on significant background literature review work in rural ageing, both in New Zealand and comparatively, and begins to explore relationships between grandchildren and their grandparents. Grandparenting merits critical research exploration, as roles and practices are likely to vary in different social settings and across the life course of each generation and cohort. The rationale for the study is based on the paucity of research data addressing the particular linked dynamics of ageing in rural families through the lens of young people’s experiences. This study is designed to map the perspectives of a sample of young people who have spent a good part of their formative years living in rural communities in the South Island.
Methodology
The process of contacting all area (rural) schools in the South Island of New Zealand is outlined, along with the developmental approach taken to design methods which were practically and ethically appropriate to research with young people in an educational setting. Schools were invited to take part in a monitored research activity in the classroom of Years 7 and 8 students. In phase one of the research, information was obtained about the school and community context via a questionnaire to school principals. In phase two, five schools participated in a classroom research activity using a survey designed, developed and administered by the researchers, working with a classroom teacher. The survey included basic demographic items to be completed by the young people (age, gender, family and household size, length of attendance at the school). The young people were then asked to describe their relationships and current/past contacts with people they refer to as grandparents.
Key Results
The 98 young people in five schools who completed the survey provided information on 380 grandparents, of whom 73 were no longer alive. Young people in rural South Island schools report a variety of relationships with their grandparents, describing the nature of their relationships, frequency and type of contacts and range of shared activities. Half of the students’ grandparents live close or reasonably close (within 90 minutes travel time) to their grandchildren.
Most of the young people provided information on three or four grandparents, with no apparently significant differences between their maternal and paternal grandparental relationships. Relationships with one or more great-grandparents also feature in this study. Most of the young people in this study lived in nuclear family households with two parents and one or two siblings. However, diverse family relationships were apparent, including blended families with stepgrandparents and step-siblings, with re-partnering occurring at both the parental and grandparental level. This diversity poses challenges for family functioning and communications, as well as for researchers.
An analysis of the patterns of naming and terms of address for grandparents is made, showing that the most commonly used names for grandfather is Grandad (used by 25 percent). For grandmother, Nana and Grandma are almost equally common (used by 15 percent and 11 percent respectively). Personal names are used in a small number of cases (eight percent), and in combination with a grandparent title in 13 percent of cases.
Around 40 percent of the students have contact daily or weekly with a grandparent. One-third ‘regularly do things together’ with a grandparent, and one-fifth say they have a ‘special relationship’ with a grandparent. Fewer than 10 percent mention a grandparent whom they ‘don’t really know’. In terms of the content and quality of their relationships with grandparents, the majority provided descriptive detail of the typical activities they share on an ‘everyday’ basis. A small group (18 percent of responses) mentioned aspects of relationships which are interpreted as ‘marginallimited’, while a smaller group (12 percent of responses) gave examples of relationships interpreted as ‘special-positive’. Many grandchildren valued their relationships with their grandparents, including grandparents who had died. There is positive commentary on the fun and enjoyment grandparents and grandchildren share, but there is also sadness in acknowledging that these opportunities for mutual sharing can be limited. Declining health and death of a grandparent, or distance in both time and place, are acknowledged as limiting the opportunities for relationships and contacts to grow over time, as young people also develop.