Introduction: widening the lens on grandparenting

Abstract

It is important that patterns of contact and transfers of time and material resources between family generations continue to receive attention, yet it is also essential to broaden the enquiry to examine the evolving nature and meanings of these transfers, and changes in intergenerational relationships more generally. The demographic and welfare state contexts of grandparenting have retained their central importance, and evince some intriguing developments, not in the least the postponement in the age of becoming a grandparent in some contexts. Grandparenting in countries that are undergoing rapid economic and social development is flagged as an area of growing interest. Gender and intersectionalities are brought into particularly close focus, through investigations into the gendered divisions of labour among grandmothers and grandfathers. The growing importance of transnational grandparenting is emphasised. Grandparental roles, agency and influence are highlighted as topics that deserve more attention.