Grandparenting and Cognitive Functioning: Does It Matter What Grandparents and Grandchildren Do Together? Evidence from England

Valeria Bordone , University of Vienna
Bruno Arpino, University of Padua
Giorgio Di Gessa, University College London

Several studies have reported an average positive association between older people’s involvement in grandparental childcare and their cognitive outcomes, recognising this activity within the active ageing framework, bearing an intellectually stimulating component. However, does it matter what do older people do with their grandchildren when they look after them? We aim to shed light on the mechanisms through which grandchild care affects grandparents’ cognitive functioning, considering for the first time the activities that grandparents undertake with and for their grandchildren. To do so, unique data from waves 8-10 of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) will be used in a longitudinal approach that considers covariates and cognition at baseline (wave 7). Regression models are so far run on the sample of grandmothers and grandfathers up to wave 9 (data from wave 10 will be shortly available) to explore the role of a variety of activities and their frequency on levels of three cognitive dimensions (fluency, immediate recall, and delayed recall). A positive effect of grandchild care is found on all outcomes. Such an effect is however driven by “highly-cognitive” activities. Results do not provide evidence for a role of frequency of grandchild care in shaping grandparents’ cognitive functioning. The findings highlight the need to consider the activities done within care relationships and, among social- and policy-implications, they encourage intergenerational activities to age well.

See extended abstract

 Presented in Session 32. Grandparents and Grandparenting