Fact: Today, there are 70 million grandparents in the nation.
Grandparents represent one-third of the population with 1.7 million new grandparents added to the ranks every year.
Grandparents lead 37% of all U.S. households in this country — that’s 44 million households nationwide. And that number is increasing at twice the average annual rate of U.S. households overall — with the number to hit 50 million by 2015.
Fact: Grandparents love being grandparents.
- 72% think being a grandparent is the single most important and satisfying thing in their life
- 63% say they can do a better job caring for grandchildren than they did with their own
- 68% think being a grandparent brings them closer to their adult children
- 90% enjoy talking about their grandkids to just about everyone
Fact: They are younger than ever before.
43% became grandparents in their fifties, 37% in their forties, with the average age of grandparents in this country at 48.
By 2010, more than 50% of the grandparent population will be baby boomers — by 2015, it will increase to nearly 60%.
Fact: Grandparents are active.
- 43% exercise or play sports
- 28% volunteer on a regular basis
- 18% dance
Fact: They are intellectually curious.
- 71% say reading is one of their favorite activities
- 86% read a newspaper in print or online
Fact: Grandparents are wired.
- 75% are online
- 70% use search engines to find information
- 63% shop online
- 30% instant message
- 56% share photos online
- 46% bank online
- 45% are on social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Yahoo! Groups
Fact: Grandparents are in the workforce.
- 60% still have a full-time or part-time job
- 23% have started their own business
Fact: They are becoming more modern
- 33% have been married more than once
- 38% report having sex at least twice a week
- 10% have a tattoo
- 15% have demonstrated for a cause
- 17% have attended a rally
- 7% have used recreational drugs
- 6% have started a blog
- 3% have run a marathon
- 2% have gone skydiving
Fact: Grandparents have money.
- They control 75% of the wealth in this country.
- They have the highest average net worth of any other age group ($254,000).
- By 2010, they will earn the highest average income.
- They spend $2 trillion every year on consumer goods and services.
- 55% no longer carry a mortgage
Fact: They are generous with money and time.
- They make 45% of the nation’s cash contributions to nonprofit organizations.
- They account for 42% of all consumer spending on gifts.
- 15% have volunteered at a shelter
Fact: They support their adult children and grandchildren financially
- They spend $52 billion every year on their grandkids alone.
- They spend $32 billion on education-related costs.
- 62% have provided financial support to their adult children and grandchildren in the last 12 months:
- 23% on daycare
- 40% on housing (mortgage or rent)
- 21% on education
- 70% on cash for day-to-day expenses
- 24% on health care
Fact: Grandparents just want to have fun.
- They spend $100 billion each year on entertainment.
- They spend $77 billion each year on travel.
Fact: They like to spend time with their grandkids.
- 60% live close to their grandchildren
- 46% wish they could live even closer
- 70% see the kids at least once a week
- 66% travel with their grandkids
- 81% have their grandkids for part or all of their summer vacation
- 55% play video games with their grandchildren
Fact: Grandparents take care of their grandkids.
- 72% take care of their grandchildren on a regular basis
- 13% are primary caregivers
- 92% have changed their grandchild’s diaper
- 64% accompany their adult children or grandchildren to the doctor
- 86% bake cookies for their family
Fact: Many grandparents live under the same roof as their grandkids
6.2 million — or 5.3% of all U.S. households — are now multigenerational — up from 5 million in 2000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Survey.
Fact: 66% of grandparents have never celebrated grandparents day.
Sources: Grandparents.com internal survey, 2103; Metlife survey “Grandparents Investing in Grandchildren“; Pew Research Center report