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Grandmotherhood across the demographic transition

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  • Simon N Chapman
  • Jenni E Pettay
  • Mirkka Lahdenperä
  • Virpi Lummaa

Abstract

Grandmothers provide key care to their grandchildren in both contemporary and historic human populations. The length of the grandmother-grandchild relationship provides a basis for such interactions, but its variation and determinants have rarely been studied in different contexts, despite changes in age-specific mortality and fertility rates likely having affected grandmotherhood patterns across the demographic transition. Understanding how often and long grandmothers have been available for their grandchildren in different conditions may help explain the large differences between grandmaternal effects found in different societies, and is vital for developing theories concerning the evolution of menopause, post-reproductive longevity, and family living. Using an extensive genealogical dataset from Finland spanning the demographic transition, we quantify the length of grandmotherhood and its determinants from 1790–1959. We found that shared time between grandmothers and grandchildren was consistently low before the demographic transition, only increasing greatly during the 20th century. Whilst reduced childhood mortality and increasing adult longevity had a role in this change, grandmaternal age at birth remained consistent across the study period. Our findings further understanding of the temporal context of grandmother-grandchild relationships, and emphasise the need to consider the demography of grandmotherhood in a number of disciplines, including biology (e.g. evolution of the family), sociology (e.g. changing family structures), population health (e.g. changing age structures), and economics (e.g. workforce retention).

Suggested Citation

  • Simon N Chapman & Jenni E Pettay & Mirkka Lahdenperä & Virpi Lummaa, 2018. "Grandmotherhood across the demographic transition," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(7), pages 1-17, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0200963
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0200963
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Aïda Nitsch & Charlotte Faurie & Virpi Lummaa, 2014. "Alloparenting in humans: fitness consequences of aunts and uncles on survival in historical Finland," Behavioral Ecology, International Society for Behavioral Ecology, vol. 25(2), pages 424-433.
    2. Rebecca Sear & David Coall, 2011. "How Much Does Family Matter? Cooperative Breeding and the Demographic Transition," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 37(Supplemen), pages 81-112, January.
    3. Mirkka Lahdenperä & Virpi Lummaa & Samuli Helle & Marc Tremblay & Andrew F. Russell, 2004. "Fitness benefits of prolonged post-reproductive lifespan in women," Nature, Nature, vol. 428(6979), pages 178-181, March.
    4. Giorgio Di Gessa & Karen Glaser & Anthea Tinker, 2016. "The Health Impact of Intensive and Nonintensive Grandchild Care in Europe: New Evidence From SHARE," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 71(5), pages 867-879.
    5. Rachel Margolis & Laura Wright, 2017. "Healthy Grandparenthood: How Long Is It, and How Has It Changed?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 54(6), pages 2073-2099, December.
    6. Virpi Lummaa & Erkki Haukioja & Risto Lemmetyinen & Mirja Pikkola, 1998. "Natural selection on human twinning," Nature, Nature, vol. 394(6693), pages 533-534, August.
    7. Bruno Arpino & Chiara Pronzato & Lara Tavares, 2014. "The Effect of Grandparental Support on Mothers’ Labour Market Participation: An Instrumental Variable Approach," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 30(4), pages 369-390, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. Barschkett, Mara & Spieß, C. Katharina & Ziege, Elena, 2021. "Does Grandparenting Pay off for the Next Generations? Intergenerational Effects of Grandparental Care," IZA Discussion Papers 14795, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Roberta Rutigliano, 2020. "Counting on Potential Grandparents? Adult Children’s Entry Into Parenthood Across European Countries," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(4), pages 1393-1414, August.
    3. Simon Chapman & Mirkka Danielsbacka & Antti O Tanskanen & Mirkka Lahdenperä & Jenni Pettay & Virpi Lummaa, 2023. "Grandparental co-residence and grandchild survival: the role of resource competition in a pre-industrial population," Behavioral Ecology, International Society for Behavioral Ecology, vol. 34(3), pages 446-456.

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