More Americans Are Raising Their Grandkids

The 2016 National Survey of Children's Health, which involved nearly 45,000 parent-led households, found more three million older Americans are now raising their grandchildren as their own, reports HealthDay News . "Grandparents raising grandchildren — despite having greater physical and mental health issues, and despite raising somewhat more behaviorally challenging children — appear to be coping with the stresses of parenting just as well as biological/adoptive parent caregivers," said survey author Andrew Adesman with Cohen Children's Medical Center. Reasons he cited for this trend include children being placed with their grandparents because of the opioid epidemic, child abuse, or neglect. "Other common reasons include mental health problems of one or both parents, or unexpected deaths due to health problems or motor vehicle accidents," Adesman noted. The poll found grandparent caregivers were more likely to say they had nobody to turn to for emotional support.