Becoming a Grandparent

Focusing on a neglected area of the life cycle, this paper explores the meaning and significance of becoming a grandparent, from the perspective of a sample of couples, becoming grandparents for the first time. The paper falls into four sections. The first considers why grand-parenthood has been a neglected area in family sociology and in research on the life cycle. The second and third sections use interview data from a prospective study of eighteen couples. The first of these briefly documents the process of becoming a grandparent, from the time when the news is first heard, through the birth of the baby and up to nine months later. The second of these identifies the meaning and significance which these people attached to ‘becoming a grandparent’ and to the role of‘being a grandparent’. The final section discusses the problems which are involved in studying grandparenthood, and in attempting to provide an account of its meaning and significance.