Grandparents step in to support families, delaying retirement
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Joann Ernst, 72, of Oregon, balances a job as a special education teacher with caring for her grandsons and financially supporting her daughter and son.
Ernst helps her son, Jack, after he lost an arm in an accident, paying his rent and assisting with childcare. She also provides financial support and care for her daughter, Joanna’s, children, including a son with autism. Ernst isn’t alone.
Business Insider spoke with over 60 grandparents and great-grandparents who are providing financial and practical help to their adult children and grandchildren, often delaying or foregoing retirement. Some grandparents, like Althea Smith in an unspecified location, have legal custody of their grandchildren while also caring for their own parents. As of 2024, census data shows that more than 1.1 million US grandparents age 60 and older provide at least part-time care for their grandchildren.
Ernst, who previously raised three children largely as a single mother, finds that her role now is less about leisure and more about providing essential support and discipline. She continues to pay the mortgage on a house in Connecticut for her son and his children while working to support her daughter’s family in Oregon, even as her retirement savings decrease.
