Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T13:30:49.988Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Pathways to grandparents’ provision of care in skipped-generation households in Thailand

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 March 2017

BERIT INGERSOLL-DAYTON ,
SUREEPORN PUNPUING ,
KANCHANA TANGCHONLATIP  and
LAURA YAKAS
BERIT INGERSOLL-DAYTON*
Affiliation:
School of Social Work, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
SUREEPORN PUNPUING
Affiliation:
Institute for Population and Social Research, Mahidol University, Salaya, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand.
KANCHANA TANGCHONLATIP
Affiliation:
Institute for Population and Social Research, Mahidol University, Salaya, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand.
LAURA YAKAS
Affiliation:
School of Social Work, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
*
Address for correspondence: Berit Ingersoll-Dayton, School of Social Work, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In many parts of the world, grandparents live with their grandchildren in ‘skipped-generation households’ in which no parent resides. In Thailand, this living arrangement is more common in rural areas where parents often migrate to find employment. The focus of this article is on how grandparents make the decision to live in skipped-generation households. Our study is based upon open-ended interviews with 48 grandparents who lived in three rural areas of Thailand. Using an interpretative phenomenological approach, the analysis uncovers several factors that contribute to grandparents’ decisions about their living arrangements. These factors include: norms about care-giving and family obligation, inadequate child-care options, the need for financial support, problematic relationships within the family and a desire for companionship. We also identify three different decision-making patterns: grandparents initiating the decision to provide grandchild care, adult children asking grandparents to assume this role and adult children abandoning grandchildren to the grandparents. Based upon these findings, we provide implications for practice that address the conditions of grandparents and their family members.

Keywords

intergenerational relationshipsliving arrangementsmigration
Type
Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 38 , Issue 7 , July 2018 , pp. 1429 - 1452
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abas, M., Punpuing, S., Jirapramukpitak, T., Guest, P., Tangchonlatip, K., Leese, M. and Prince, M. 2009. Rural–urban migration and depression in ageing family members left behind. British Journal of Psychiatry, 195, 1, 54–60.Google Scholar
Arber, S. and Timonen, V. 2012. Grandparenting in the 21st century: new directions. In Arber, S. and Timonen, V. (eds), Contemporary Grandparents: Changing Family Relationships in Global Contexts. Policy Press, Bristol, UK, 247–64.Google Scholar
Baker, L. and Silverstein, M. 2012. The wellbeing of grandparents caring for grandchildren in China and the United States. In Arber, S. and Timonen, V. (eds), Contemporary Grandparents: Changing Family Relationships in Global Contexts. Policy Press, Bristol, UK, 51–70.Google Scholar
Bengtson, V. and Roberts, R. 1981. Intergenerational solidarity in aging families: an example of formal theory construction. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 53, 4, 856–70.Google Scholar
Boehm, D. A. 2012. Intimate Migrations: Gender, Family, and Illegality Among Transnational Mexicans. New York University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Burnette, D. 1997. Grandparents raising grandchildren in the inner city. Families in Society, 78, 5, 489–99.Google Scholar
Caputo, R. K. 2000 Second-generation parenthood: a panel study of grandmother and grandchild coresidency among low-income families, 1967–1992. Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, 27, 3, 3–20.Google Scholar
Chamratrithirong, A. 2007. Research on internal migration in Thailand: the state of knowledge. Journal of Population and Social Studies, 16, 1, 1–20.Google Scholar
Clarke, E., Preston, M., Raksin, J. and Bengtson, V. 1999. Types of conflicts and tensions between older parents and adult children. Gerontologist, 39, 3, 261–70.Google Scholar
Cong, Z. and Silverstein, M. 2012. Custodial grandparents and intergenerational support in rural China. In Mehta, K. and Thang, L. (eds), Experiencing Grandparenthood: An Asian Perspective. Springer, London, 109–27.Google Scholar
Das, S. and Zimmer, Z. 2015. Living arrangements and wealth among skip generation households across the globe. International Journal of Sociology of the Family, 41, 2, 95–116.Google Scholar
Dolbin-Macnab, M., Jarrott, S., Moore, L., O'Hora, K., Vrugt, M. and Erasmus, M. 2015. Dumela Mma: an examination of resilience among South African grandmothers raising grandchildren. Ageing & Society. Published online September 21, 2015, doi:10.1017/S0144686X15001014.Google Scholar
Fuller-Thompson, E., Minkler, M. and Driver, D. 1997. A profile of grandparents raising grandchildren in the United States. The Gerontologist, 37, 3, 406–11.Google Scholar
Hayslip, B. Jr and Goodman, C. C. 2008. Grandparents raising grandchildren. Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, 5, 4, 117–9.Google Scholar
Hayslip, B. and Smith, G. 2013. Resilient Grandparent Caregivers: A Strengths-based Perspective. Routledge, Taylor & Francis, Abingdon, UK.Google Scholar
Henderson, T. L. and Cook, J. L. 2006. The voices of black grandmothers parenting grandchildren with TANF assistance. In Hayslip, B. and Patrick, J. H. (eds), Custodial Grandparenting: Individual, Cultural, and Ethnic Diversity. Springer Publishing Company, New York, NY, 303–20.Google Scholar
Herlofson, K. and Hagestad, G. 2012. Transformations in the role of grandparents across welfare states. In Arber, S. and Timonen, V. (eds), Contemporary Grandparents: Changing Family Relationships in Global Contexts. Policy Press, Bristol, UK, 27–49.Google Scholar
Huguet, J. W. and Chamratrithirong, A. 2011. Migration for Development in Thailand: Overview and Tools for Policymakers. International Organization for Migration, Bangkok.Google Scholar
Ice, G. H., Sadruddin, A., Vagedes, A., Yogo, J. and Juma, E. 2012. Stress associated with caregiving: an examination of the stress process model among Kenyan Luo elders. Social Science & Medicine, 74, 12, 2020–7.Google Scholar
Jampaklay, A., Vapattanawong, P., Tangchonlatip, K., Richter, K., Ponpai, N. and Hayeeteh, C. 2012. Children Living Apart from Parents Due to Internal Migration (CLAIM). Institute for Population and Social Research, Mahidol University, Bangkok.Google Scholar
Kamnuansilpa, P. and Wongthanavasu, S. 2005. Grandparents’ relationships with grandchildren in Thailand. Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, 3, 1, 49–66.Google Scholar
Katz, R. and Lowenstein, A. 2010. Theoretical perspectives on intergenerational solidarity, conflict and ambivalence. In Izuhara, M. (ed.), Ageing and Intergenerational Relations: Family Reciprocity from a Global Perspective. Policy Press, Portland, Oregon, 29–56.Google Scholar
Knodel, J. and Nguyen, M. 2014. Grandparents and grandchildren: care and support in Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. Ageing & Society, 35, 9, 1960–88.Google Scholar
Knodel, J., Teerawichitchainan, B., Prachuabmoh, V. and Pothisiri, W. 2015. The situation of Thailand's older population: an update based on the 2014 Survey of Older Persons in Thailand. Population Studies Center Research Report 15–847. The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.Google Scholar
Mills, T., Gomez-Smith, Z. and De Leon, J. 2005. Skipped generation families: sources of psychological distress among grandmothers of grandchildren who live in homes where neither parent is present. Marriage and Family Review, 37, 1/2, 191–212.Google Scholar
Minkler, M., Roe, K. M. and Price, M. 1992. The physical and emotional health of grandmothers raising grandchildren in the crack cocaine epidemic. The Gerontologist, 32, 6, 752–61.Google Scholar
Oduaran, A. and Oduaran, C. 2010. Grandparents and HIV and AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa. In Izuhara, M. (ed.), Ageing and Intergenerational Relations: Family Reciprocity from a Global Perspective. Policy Press, Portland, Oregon, 95–110.Google Scholar
Padgett, D. K. 2008. Qualitative Methods in Social Work Research. Second edition, Sage, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Scommegna, P. 2012. More U.S. Children Raised by Grandparents. Population Reference Bureau. Available online at http://www.prb.org/Publications/Articles/2012/US-children-grandparents.aspx [Accessed 20 April 2016].Google Scholar
Smith, J. and Osborne, M. 2007. Pain as an assault on the self: an interpretative phenomenological analysis of the psychological impact of chronic benign low back pain. Psychology and Health, 22, 5, 517–34.Google Scholar
Thailand National Statistical Office. 2006. Thailand Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey December 2005–February 2006, Final Report. National Statistical Office, Ministry of Information Technology and Communications, Bangkok, Thailand.Google Scholar
Thang, L. 2012. The meanings of being a grandparent. In Mehta, M. and Thang, L. (eds), Experiencing Grandparenthood: An Asian Perspective. Springer, London, 61–75.Google Scholar
Timonen, V. and Arber, S. 2012. A new look at grandparenting. In Arber, S. and Timonen, V. (eds), Contemporary Grandparents: Changing Family Relationships in Global Contexts. Policy Press, Bristol, UK, 1–20.Google Scholar
Timonen, V. and Doyle, M. 2012. Grandparental agency after adult children's divorce. In Arber, S. and Timonen, V. (eds), Contemporary Grandparents: Changing Family Relationships in Global Contexts. Policy Press, Bristol, UK, 159–80.Google Scholar
UNICEF 2014. Press Release: More than 3 Million Children in Thailand Do Not Live with Their Parents. UNICEF Press Centre. Available online at http://www.unicef.org/media/media_73914.html [Accessed 20 April 2016].Google Scholar
Wang, Y. and Nolan, M. 2016. Older people and decision-making following acute stroke in China: “hiding” as a barrier to active involvement. Ageing and Society, 36, 7, 1526–54.Google Scholar
Yarris, K. E. 2014. ‘Quiero ir y no quiero ir’ (I want to and I don't want to go): Nicaraguan children's ambivalent experiences of transnational family life. Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology, 19, 2, 284–309.Google Scholar