Grandparents and Other Relatives Raising Children: Support in the Workplace

Introduction

According to the U.S. Census 2000, more than six million children across the country are living in households headed by grandparents or other relatives.¹ The Census further found that nearly 5.8 million grandparents areliving in households with one or more of their own grandchildren under the age of 18. More than 2.4 million of these grandparents have the primaryresponsibility for meeting the basic needs of these children.² Factors such as parental substance abuse, divorce, incarceration, HIV/AIDS, mental illness, death, and poverty are causing growing numbersof grandparents and other relatives to step forward to keep their families together.

Over half of the 2.4 million grandparents raising grandchildren are employed.³ Many working grandparent- and other relative-caregivers are quietly raising children without their employer’s knowledge or government involvement. This fact sheet and its accompanying guide are designed to raise awareness concerning the number of these caregivers in the workforce and their unique needs, and to provide models of supportive human resources policies and programs that employers can replicate. The guide contains the results of a survey that Generations United (GU) conducted of 51 companies across the United States. Specifically, GU asked about the inclusion of these families in: medical insurance, dental, and vision benefits; child care services; employee assistance/counseling programs; leave policies; and other available benefits.

Strong anecdotal evidence suggests that the majority of relative caregivers are caring for children without a formal legal relationship such as adoption, guardianship or legal custody. For the purposes of this fact sheet, these caregivers will be referred to as “informal” relative caregivers. Informal grandparent- and other relative-caregivers have the same needs as any parent, but often face barriers that many parents do not, such as access to medical care, medical insurance, child care, and school enrollment on behalf of the children they are raising. Working relative caregivers need to be able to access employer-sponsored benefits designed for families, such as child-related leave and child care, and to be able to include the children they raise as dependents on their employer-sponsored health insurance policies.

Survey Responses

Medical Insurance and Dental/Vision Benefits

None of the companies GU surveyed allow relative caregivers, who are raising children without legal custody, guardianship, or adoption, to include these children as eligible beneficiaries on their employer-provided health insurance. In addition, about half of the states do not have laws allowing these informal caregivers to consent to the children’s medical treatment, making it more difficult to access medical care for the children they are raising.

Child Care Services

With only one exception, employers surveyed, who offer child care or employees to access the services without legal relationships to the children they are raising.