The rewards of caring for grandchildren: Black Canadian grandmothers who are custodial parents, co-parents, and extensive babysitters

From publisher: This grounded theory qualitative study of 16 Black Canadian grandmothers identified the rewards of caregiving. Variations in rewards emerged by caregiver type: custodial grandparent (n=7), co-parent grandparent (n=5) and extensive babysitter (n=4). Five major themes were identified: (1) grandmothers’ responsibilities and pride of caregiving; (2) grandmothers keeping the family close together and safe; (3) mutual respect between grandmothers and grandchildren; (4) caregiving provides grandmothers with a sense of purpose; and (5) grandchildren are fun. Implications of these findings for practice and further research are discussed.The first author gratefully acknowledges support from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC 410-2009-2133) and the Sandra Rotman Endowed Chair fund