This chapter explores an often-overlooked lifecourse transition in relation to civil society: that of becoming a grandparent. Most existing lifecourse studies on the impact of family obligations on civic engagement focus on the impact of becoming a parent – and as we have seen in the previous chapter, parenthood can have a significant impact on an individual's relationship with civil society. This chapter extends this analysis and, through acknowledging the significance of the grandparent– grandchild relationship (Smith 2005), explores the types of civic engagement that might be triggered or halted by grandparenthood.

Television and children's books tend to portray grandparents as old, frail, fussy, infirm and sedentary (Janelli and Sorge 2002; Smith 2005). As part of the older population, grandparents are generally perceived to be the beneficiaries of care rather than as actively contributing to civil society through, for example, voluntary work, political participation or associational membership. Indeed, a persistent focus on an individual's economic contribution throughout their working life and rising concerns about the public health burden of ageing populations work together to position older individuals as a worrisome responsibility for their descendants. This does not give the full picture of grandparenthood, however: the average age of becoming a grandparent in Britain is actually 55 (Leopold and Skopek 2015), meaning that many grandparents are relatively young, active, in paid employment and engaged in their communities.

Despite grandparenthood being a central aspect of later life (Margolis 2016), which most adults will experience, the area remains underresearched (Smith 2005), particularly from the point of view of the grandparent. Little of the existing research focuses on the experiences of grandparents themselves and the effect that having grandchildren can have on their day-to-day lives. This chapter addresses this gap in the literature. We begin with a comparison of grandparents and non-grandparents drawing on nationally representative cross-sectional survey data, and then draw on in-depth interviews with grandparents themselves. We explore the activities and practices associated with ‘grandparenting’ as a trigger for, or barrier to, active engagement in civil society, taking a particular interest in how the role of grandparent interacts with individuals’ participation in civil society and ask how being a grandparent shapes their patterns of interest and participation.