The Impact of Social Class and Social Trends on the Role of Grandparent

This paper attempts to reassess the role of grandparent from a social class perspective. The role is analyzed first as a peculiar non-institution for middle-class families in the United States. Grandparenting is shown to differ by degree of functional centrality in middle-class families and families of lower socio-economic status, a measure which permits conceptualization of the grandparent role as either ideological or realistic. Using this theoretical framework, it is noted that certain biological, political, and social trends appear to be converging in a way that could catalyze a rearrangement of social class characteristics, thereby creating a reality grandparent role for a significant number of older middle-class persons.