This career development award will focus on issues of grandparent care-giving for grandchildren. Existing research reports both positive and negative effects on the well-being of grandparents. But the evidence is inconclusive, owing mainly to limitations in data and research design. The proposed research focuses on China, a setting where it is normative for grandparents to provide routine care for grandchildren. I will use a longitudinal dataset, the China Health and Nutrition Survey, a panel survey with data from eight provinces in China. The survey includes detailed data on childcare and a wide range of health measures. The proposed work should enhance our understanding of the process through which grandparent care-giving influences the health of grandparents.
My specific aims are as follows:
Aim 1 : Describe the scope of grandparent care-giving in China; including the proportion of children cared for by grandparents and the level of care-giving responsibilities of grandparents.
Aim 2 : Examine factors associated with grandparent care-giving in China, including the intensity of the mother's work load, grandparents' characteristics, and various structural and contextual factors.
Aim 3 : Evaluate the relationship between grandparent care-giving and health in China, including both immediate and long-term consequences of grandparent care-giving on various measures of health outcomes.
Aim 4 : Design measures and collect original data on mental health of elderly in China, with the purpose of further documenting the relationship between grandparents care-giving and their well-being. During the award, I propose to develop knowledge and analytical skills in the field of demographic, health and aging. By working closely with leaders in the field, I hope to gain expertise in complex data analysis, to develop the skills required to successfully compete for future research funding, and to become an independent research scientist.
