Reply to I think grandparents are out of touch now because a lot of us waited so long to have kids

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Reply to "I think grandparents are out of touch now because a lot of us waited so long to have kids"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]More involved grandparents is one of the benefits of having kids younger. [/quote]

Yes and no. If you have kids younger, the grandparents are likely to still be working, not retired, so less available to help/visit.[/quote]
+1 My grandmother had my mom at 25 and then my mom had her oldest kid at 26. But my grandfather worked a demanding job on the opposite coast until I was born seven years after my sister was, so they missed a lot for all my older siblings. [/quote]

Yes, a huge aspect of the grandparent experience is class. I think a lot of the expectations around what a grandparent experience will be are based on the idea of women being SAHMs. I actually think this is where a lot of the pressure to have kids can come from in some families -- mom is a SAHM and when empty nesting hits her hard, she starts asking for grandkids to fill the void. In this setup, the fact that grandpa is still working is irrelevant. The idea is that grandma is still young enough to be very helpful and involved AND is suddenly finding herself with a lot of time on her hands. I think back when people used to have kids in their 20s, this was part of that rhythm.

But all of that implies a single earner family, and also assumes that people remain in close proximity to their parents when they have kids. If everyone is working, it's just never going to work out this way because no one has time, plus people are tied to their jobs and may not be able to be as picky about where they live.[/quote]

This. Most people work until they are at least 65 now (except on dcum) and many until they are 70. The working grandparents and 70+ grandparents are more likely to be more involved if they lived really close. Younger grandparents in their 50s and 60s will be more involved. 
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