Welcome to The Grandparent Effect
Grandparents are healthier, wealthier, and longer-lived than ever before. What does this mean for us all?
How childhood and elderhood make us human
A growing body of research suggests that these life stages—which last far longer in humans than in any other animal—are responsible for the remarkable success of our species.
A teenager honors her grandpa, and many more of the lost
Hannah Ernst, a teenager in New Jersey, lost her grandpa, Calvin Schoenfeld, to covid-19 in May. Schoenfeld, 83, was a graphic designer, and Hannah created a digital silhouette of him as a tribute. Since then, she has made hundreds more silhouettes of covid victims from around the world.
In a first, most American 20-somethings now live with their parents
The share of young adults living at home has been rising for decades in the United States. But in the six months since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the increase has been especially steep.
The grandparents we’ve lost
The number of Covid deaths in the United States is fast approaching 200,000. And while Americans of all ages have lost their lives, the vast majority are grandparents, great-grandparents, and their peers. Millions of people are grieving them.
Pandemic grandparenting: overwhelming sadness, but some sweetness, too
Millions of grandparents have been torn from their grandkids. Others are responsible for raising them, and worry about who’ll finish the job if they can’t.
Amid a crisis, a serenade
Collin Fowler of Albuquerque, New Mexico serenaded his quarantined grandparents with bagpipes to mark their 55th wedding anniversary. He stood in the middle of their cul-de-sac, while they listened from the safety of their stoop.
Keeping up with the science of the pandemic
The Coronavirus Resource Center is a new site from Harvard Medical School.
“How do families decide what to do?”
Here’s an excellent article from The Washington Post by a retired professor who typically cares for her grandkids after school. Last week, she was “laid off” from this job for her own protection.
These grandkids ride to school in style
Five of Doug Hayes’s ten grandkids are old enough to ride the school bus he bought them for Christmas, which he’s calling the “Grandfather Express.”
“Anne-Christine can rest easy now”
A murderer admits to his crime, but his victim’s mother—who is seeking custody of her grandson—fights on.
An oldster at home is a treasure to your own.
Chinese proverb
The boarding school from hell
When my grandparents went abroad in the fall of 1958, they found two very different Swiss boarding schools for their kids.
Step-grandparents, make yourselves known!
Little is known about step-grandparents, even thought they’re increasingly common. If you’re a step-grandparent, what’s it like?
My grandmother, the Francophile
My mom’s mom read everything in French. Even though she wasn’t French, didn’t live in France, and didn’t learn the language until well into middle age. Best of all, she never bragged about it.
The grandmas who snorkel with snakes
Some days, they take care of their grandchildren. Other days, they prowl the bottom of the sea in search of venomous snakes.
The ‘pasta grannies’ still roll it by hand
To document the dying art of making pasta from scratch, British journalist Vicky Bennison has filmed hundreds of Italian grandmas in their kitchens. The result, she says, is a “Noah’s Ark” of knowledge and skills that might otherwise have been lost.
The new American family, animated
The millions of American kids who live with their grandparents will recognize themselves in The Casagrandes, a new cartoon from Nickelodeon.
“We stand in solidarity with the youngsters”
Concerned about the impact of climate change on their grandchildren, elders in London have taken to the streets.