E-Briefing Aug. 25, 2000 A NEW LOOK AT THE OLD: GRANDPARENTS & AGING When you think grandma or grandpa, do you see wrinkles and rocking chairs? With Grandparents Day coming up on Sunday Sept. 10, you might want to rethink that stereotype. The National Survey of American Households indicates the average age of a first-time grandparent is 47. And don't forget the stamina of "Survivors" contestant Rudy Boesch, the politically incorrect 72-year-old who proved popular enough to make it to the show's final four. This week's e-briefing from the University of Cincinnati examines grandparenting and aging in the United States and around the world. Will Baby Boomers wield enough influence to displace youth worship? What is the state of grandparenting in today's highly mobile society? Who is living the longest? Table of contents 1. Grandparents: the stats A. 60 million and growing B. Aging patterns around the world C. Greatness on the rise D. Grandparents as care-givers 2. Focus on the family A. Kinship keepers B. Strong families ties in Appalachia C. Real life story: Johari's grandma and grandpa D. Real life story: Heather's grandma 3. Social trends A. Gray as beautiful? B. Beware of the 'burbs C. The rise of cyber-grandparenting D. Social Security: change isn't necessarily better E. Age-friendly houses 4. Aging around the world A. Japan's holiday B. Mounting problems for Asia C. Losing respect for the aged D. Respect your elders (many still do) 5. Web sites on aging/grandparenting 1. GRANDPARENTS: THE STATS A. 60 MILLION AND GROWING Approximately 31 percent of the U.S. population -- 60 million people -- are grandparents, according to figures from Global Starch Worldwide, a global marketing research firm. That number promises to increase as more and more Baby Boomers become grandparents. By 2010, the ranks of grandparents are expected to swell to 80 million. The top five activities grandparents share with grandchildren are eating together (dining in or dining out), watching a TV comedy, a sleep-over, shopping for clothes, or enjoying sports or exercise together, according to an AARP survey. "We tend to think of grandparents as old folks with false teeth and gray hair, sitting in rocking chairs. The age of 47 today is not what 47 was a couple of generations ago," says Margaret Hollidge, senior program coordinator for AARP. "We're healthier, more active and better educated. For the first time ever, the 2000 census contained questions specifically for grandparents raising grandchildren." contact: 212-434-2560 B. AGING PATTERNS AROUND THE WORLD The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that the Japanese have the longest life expectancy of any nation studied. The organization studied 191 countries and reported an average life expectancy of 74.5 years in Japan. At the other end of the scale, Sierra Leone had the shortest life expectancy at 25.9 years. WHO experts said the AIDS epidemic was primarily responsible for the low rate in Sierra Leone and other sub-Saharan African nations. The organization also tracks population trends across nations. According to WHO statistics, countries with low birth rates and good medical care will soon have huge populations of elderly. These include Spain and Italy which are expected to be the world's "oldest countries" by 2050 according to WHO. Source: http://www.popin.org/po p1998/8.htm C. GREATNESS ON THE RISE UC historian Terri Premo, who developed a course on women and aging, said: "Not only will more people survive long enough to become grandparents, but increasingly more of them will also join the ranks of great-grandparents and even great-great grandparents," she says. Premo adds that in the future, the role of care-giver will be reciprocated by the grandchildren, as they take care of their aging grandparents. "It seems likely that a more complex and possibly richer set of relationships will result for men and women across many generations." contact: 513-556-6612 D. GRANDPARENTS AS CARE-GIVERS While it's true that many older adults will require continuing care from their adult children, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, a significant portion of grandparents give plenty of care themselves. About 4 million children lived in a grandparent's home in 1996, nearly double the 2.3 million who did in 1980. Of those 4 million, more than one-third did not have a parent living with them. Based on years of regional child-care planning experience, Susan Kettmann, author of "The Twelve Rules of Grandparenting: A New Look at Traditional Roles and How to Break Them," predicts the numbers of grandparents serving as full-time child-care providers will continue to rise. She said these figures have risen steadily in the last five years, and the number of grandparents raising grandchildren is expected to double in the next five years. contact: Susan Kettmann, 916-874-1776 2. FOCUS ON THE FAMILY A. KINSHIP KEEPERS "Over the river and through the woods" reminds us that grandparents have long been a center of family life, but as the new century dawns, there is an even greater family focus for grandparents, according to Diane Marcus, UC professor of social work and an expert on aging. Today's grandparents are acting as "the keepers of the family" more than ever before. "They are contributing enormously and derive a lot of pleasure from the family. They provide emotional assistance, tangible support and intangible support. And they are thrilled to be able to do that." "I don't think that the level of grandparents' commitment has changed, and I don't think grandparents love their grandchildren more now than they used to, but they do have many more years of free time," she says. "Very often when people retire today, they still feel strong and able, and so they can do more than they used to." She adds that family size is smaller and grandparents have fewer grandchildren vying for their attention. contact: 513-556-4630 B. STRONG FAMILIES TIES IN APPALACHIA University of Cincinnati anthropologist Rhoda Halperin says intergenerational relationships are the key social relationship in the Applachian community. As a result, "it is absolutely taboo to put a grandparent or a loved on in a nursing home. It is the equivalent of a death sentence." Halperin says grandparents and other elderly relatives play crucial roles in raising children, running communities, providing safety nets for problems, as well as the initiatives for heritage preserving projects. contact: 513-556-5777 C. REAL LIFE STORY: JOHARI'S GRANDMA AND GRANDPA Grandparenting today is perhaps most intense and "hands-on" for those grandparents who are regularly involved in the care of their grandkids. An example: The grandparents of 4-year-old Johari Jackson, Gayle and Dr. Alvin Jackson of Fremont, Ohio, have shared daily care of their grandson with Johari's maternal grandparents and his parents. The Jacksons are committed to helping out, so that Johari's parents -- their son, Attiba, and his fiancee, Jessica Contreras -- can both concentrate on education. With their assistance, Johari's dad earned his bachelor's degree at University of Cincinnati in June and began medical school at UC this fall. Jessica is finishing up nursing school. Says Gayle, who will turn 50 soon, "I really didn't expect to be a grandparent at this age...We just focus on education and once you do that, it's not hard to know what else you have to do." D. REAL-LIFE STORY: HEATHER'S GRANDMA When you're a grandparent raising a grandkid, there's a certain emotional tug of war that goes on, admits Mary Sue Cheeseman, a 53-year-old who is raising her sixth-grade granddaughter, Heather, in Cincinnati. "At the beginning, you walk around scared to death you will have to do this for the rest of your life. At the same time, you're scared to death you won't get to," says Cheeseman, assistant senior vice president for development and alumni at the UC Medical Center. "For us, we're in a fortunate position," says Cheeseman, describing her role as a care-giving grandparent in a comfortable financial situation. "It's turned out to be nothing but a gift. It's certainly nothing we set out to do...but she's been one of the best things that's ever happened to us. She's helping to keep us young, even though you can't see it from the outside." contact: 513-558-3863 3. SOCIAL TRENDS A. GRAY AS BEAUTIFUL As Baby Boomers swarm into old age, will they turn the tide of our youth-obsessed culture? Will they make "Old is beautiful" the norm? Margaret Voelker-Ferrier, coordinator, UC's fashion design program, and a former fashion forecaster for Visual Merchandise Magazine, says that an appreciation for "gray" beauty will run in tandem with our youth culture, although it won't replace the youth culture. Baby Boomers, by their sheer numbers, will force a celebration of gray beauty. They'll make aging more acceptable, says Voelker-Ferrier, who pointed to new gray hair-coloring as early proof of what's to come. "L'Oreal has a new 'warm-blonde gray,' and two silver grays. It's saying, 'We've earned our gray hairs...but make them beautiful.'" contact: 513-556-5041 B. BEWARE OF THE 'BURBS One of the biggest myths about aging Americans is that they're all in nursing homes, says Ruth Anne Van Loon, UC assistant professor of social work and an expert on aging issues. The truth is that more older people are "aging in place," staying where they have been for years. For Baby Boomers who have fed the expansion of the suburbs, that may raise some real problems as they age, says Van Loon. "It is much easier to supply and provide services for the elderly in urban areas, rather than in the suburbs." contact: 513-556-4628 C. CYBER-GRANDPARENTING ON THE RISE Steve Barsh, CEO of iGrandparents.com, predicts the Web will play an ever-larger role in enriching relationships between grandparents and grandchildren. Baby Boomers and more mature generations are the fastest growing segment online today at a time when large geographic distances are common between family members. Barsh said that 40 percent of people over 50 have a computer at home compared with 29 percent in 1996. The amount of time Americans over 50 spend online is 47 percent higher than the average for all other age groups. Presently, 40,000 individual grandparents visit iGrandparents.com in a months' time. Barsh said that "Tough Subjects" message board, where users can post personal queries and advice related to the grandparent role, is the most popular part of the grandparents' site. contact: via Jim Shaud, 610-828-2900, ext. 106 D. SOCIAL SECURITY: CHANGE NOT NECESSARILY FOR THE BETTER With the presidential election coming up, the Republicans are talking about allowing a portion of the funds funneled into Social Security to be invested in private sector accounts by individual workers. Diane Marcus, UC professor of social work and an expert on aging issues, has concerns about privatizing Social Security in any way. "Social Security was begun to fight poverty. It's a system that applies to rich and poor, but people who are poor need the stability of a system they know will be there for them. If someone retires when the stock market is not doing well, it can make quite a difference, and private investors don't always invest wisely." If privatization is enacted, there will be a massive need to educate Americans on wise investment strategies, Marcus says. contact: 513-556-4630 E. AGE-FRIENDLY HOUSES According to Wolfgang Preiser, UC professor of architecture, 99 percent of housing is not built to be accessible for the disabled or elderly. Yet, most elderly want to remain in their own homes. "It's the most desirable thing in terms of their economics, independence and continuity of social and family ties." Paradoxically, home builders -- even in the southeast and southwest regions that market to mature populations -- aren't adopting simple and inexpensive techniques that would allow America's aging to remain in their homes. These simple design guidelines include single-level homes (no sunken living rooms or bilevel structures), hard floors, open-room layouts, wider doors, entryway ramps, handrails in the bath, and counters that can be adjusted to varying heights. "The design changes we're talking about cost little and could be an enormous selling point," said Preiser, author of many books on improving design, including "Design Intervention: Toward a More Humane Architecture." contact: 513-556-6743 4. AGING AROUND THE WORLD A. JAPAN'S HOLIDAY While the United States has Grandparents Day, the Japanese have the Day to Respect Old People, which is a national holiday and is a much bigger deal than the U.S. version. It falls on Sept. 15 and is called "Keiro No Hi," according to Noriko Fujioka-Ito, UC Japanese language instructor who has lived in the United States for 11 years. The holiday is filled with visits to grandparents, sometimes with gifts, and includes a feast. contact: 606-647-7951 B. MOUNTING PROBLEMS FOR ASIA While the U.S. faces mounting concerns about Social Security and other social services meeting the needs of a growing elderly population, many Asian countries are facing the difficulties of an even more rapid growth in the older population, says Roger Selya, UC professor of geography and an expert in Asian studies. "Aging will be even more of a problem for Japan, Taiwan and China than it is for us," he says. The primary cause is the increased life expectancy and the past emphasis on birth control, which reduced population growth rates to below replacement level. "Although any demographer could have told the governments of East Asia what the results would be, no one really anticipated the massive social and economic changes which accompanied the reduction in fertility," says Selya. "In East Asia, except for Japan, they lack a comprehensive Social Security system and elder care network." In Taiwan, several years ago, the mayor of Taipei City, Chen Shui-bian, now president of the Republic of China, promised a $265 a month stipend to every person over age 65, but the plan had to be dropped within six months because it was bankrupting the government. contact: 513-556-3423 C. LOSING RESPECT FOR THE AGED Up until recently, East Asian cultures tended to have a greater respect for the elderly than their Western counterparts and aimed for a three-generation "family ideal" with the oldest son, his parents, and his children living under one roof. UC geography professor Roger Selya, an expert in Asian studies, says that's changing radically. Modernization, mobility, urbanization and greater income created a more Western life-style and made nursing homes a thriving industry in places such as Japan and Taiwan. At one point, Japan even began building nursing homes on the west coast of the United States. Now, Selya says the elderly are more likely to face neglect. "In China, when the one-child per family policy was introduced, the state promised to take care of the aged, but now given the pressures of restructuring the economy, "there is a question whether they will be able to fulfill this promise," says Selya. contact: 513-556-3423 D. RESPECT YOUR ELDERS (MANY STILL DO) Despite growing concern that Americans don't appreciate or value this country's elderly population, anthropologist Rhoda Halperin says disrespect for the elderly is a rare phenomenon worldwide and throughout history. "In most cultures of the world -- prior to industrialization and prior to urbanization -- the elderly were revered. It is more common in history for elderly people to be decision-makers, conflict-mediators, mentors, than for elderly people to be 'pink-slipped' or discarded." That's because nuclear families are not the norm; extended, multigenerational families are much more common. Halperin also noted that in many cultures, aging benefits women the most. "As women age, they take on more power, especially after they finish their reproductive years." contact: 513-556-5777 5. WEB SITES ON AGING/GRANDPARENTING A. Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics http://www. aoa.dhhs.gov/agingstats/default.htm B. National Council on Aging http://www.ncoa.org/ C. American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) http://www.aarp.org/ D. AARP Grandparent Information Center http://www. aarp.org/confacts/programs/gic.html Click here to view previous UC e-briefings. E-mail reillymb@email.uc.edu if you would like to become a regular recipient of UC's e-briefings. Please provide your name, media affiliation, snail-mail address, e-mail address, phone and fax number.