• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

information for practice

news, new scholarship & more from around the world


advanced search
  • gary.holden@nyu.edu
  • @ Info4Practice
  • Archive
  • About
  • Help
  • Browse Key Journals
  • RSS Feeds

“My children,” “my grandchildren”: Navigating intergenerational ambivalence in grandparent childcare arrangements in Hong Kong

Abstract

Objective

This study contributes in-depth knowledge about informal childcare and family processes in East Asian families in Hong Kong in a time of rapid economic and social development. We explore how families negotiate grandparent childcare and how parents and grandparents manage intergenerational tensions and conflict.

Background

The common way of understanding intergenerational relationships in childcare is to focus on the positive experience of taking care of grandchildren, but there is limited discussion on the tension and conflicts that also occur between the generations.

Method

This qualitative study is based on in-depth interviews with 14 parents and 12 grandparents about childcare arrangements for 53 children within East Asian families in Hong Kong.

Results

Tensions are found among the parents and grandparents in childcare provision, and considerable negotiation and ongoing emotional management of relationships is required.

Conclusion

Grandparent childcare is an important resource for many families, but it might not suit all. The issues of autonomy, seniority, power, respect, and different expectations of care are embedded in established family dynamics. Some intergenerational problems are unable to be settled by the family members.

Implications

Grandparent childcare should be a care option provided for families with young children. However, it should not be a substitute for childcare services and supports outside the home. Professional family services also should be sensitive to intergenerational family dynamics.

Read the full article ›

Posted in: Journal Article Abstracts on 05/31/2022 | Link to this post on IFP |
Share

Primary Sidebar

Categories

Category RSS Feeds

  • Calls & Consultations
  • Clinical Trials
  • Funding
  • Grey Literature
  • Guidelines Plus
  • History
  • Infographics
  • Journal Article Abstracts
  • Meta-analyses - Systematic Reviews
  • Monographs & Edited Collections
  • News
  • Open Access Journal Articles
  • Podcasts
  • Video

© 1993-2023 Dr. Gary Holden. All rights reserved.

gary.holden@nyu.edu
@Info4Practice