Trends and patterns of Asian American grandparents living with and raising grandchildren

Drawing on nationally representative data from the decennial census and the American Community Survey, this study documents the trends and patterns of Asian American grandparents living with and raising grandchildren between 2000 and 2023 for the six largest ethnic groups of the Asian American population: Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indian, Filipino, and Vietnamese. Overall, the percentage of people aged 50 or older who were coresident grandparents ranged from about 3% to 15% over time, but the prevalence of custodial grandparents varied approximately between 0.5% and 3.5%. Indian, Filipino, and Vietnamese Americans were much more likely to be coresident or custodial grandparents than their Japanese and Korean counterparts throughout the entire period of 2000–2023, while Chinese Americans were ranked in the middle. Multinomial logit models and seemingly unrelated regression analyses showed substantial ethnic differences in the associations of demographic, socioeconomic status, nativity, acculturation, and disability characteristics with the likelihood of being coresident or custodial grandparents across different Asian American ethnic groups. These findings underscore the need for culturally informed policies and programs that address both ethnic‐specific caregiving contexts and the shared structural barriers that shape the caregiving realities of Asian American grandparents today.