verview Over the last decade, considerable media attention and public discussion have focused on the varied roles that grandparents play in family life. Much of this public attention has centered on grandparents who assume parental responsibilities for their grandchildren. 1 Similarly, grandparents are recognized for the active but temporary roles they assume during times of crisis or special need, such as in cases of a parental divorce or military deployment. 2 Yet child care provided in such contexts constitutes only a small proportion of all child care assistance provided by grandparents. The more typical pattern is for grandparents to baby-sit over the weekend or during the evening, look after grandchildren when parents are at work, or take care of grandkids under other, more routine, circumstances. Using data from two large national surveys, this Research Brief presents a statistical snapshot of grandparental child care in American families. The brief sheds light on who provides this care, what type and how much is provided, and considers some of the financial benefits of this care for the families involved. While most research on grandparents has focused almost exclusively on grandmothers, 3 this brief considers child care provided by both grandmothers and grandfathers. 4 Analyses reveal that many grandparents provide some type of child care to their grandchildren, an important type of ongoing assistance to their adult children that reflects the lifelong patterns of support between parents, children, and grandchildren. 5 Although grandmothers are more likely to provide child care, many grandfathers do so as well. The data also suggest that, while some grandparents provide child care for only a few hours a week, many are providing substantial amounts of this assistance, and, in fact, may be juggling child care responsibilities with their own work schedules. 6 Another, perhaps surprising finding, was that although most grandparental child care is unpaid, a small but significant percentage of families with young children report paying grandparents for the child care they provide.

Racial and ethnic differences in childbearing intentions are frequently contingent on relationship context. Differences between whites and blacks are largely attributable to married women. Assessment of childbearing intendedness among Hispanics should take nativity into account.

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verview Americans love books and movies that end with a couple exchanging vows and going on to live "happily ever after." We cry at weddings, and we admire couples of whom it can be said, "They have a great marriage." And young people today continue to place great importance on a good marriage and family life. 1 At the same time, a considerable number of contemporary Americans have deep reservations about their prospects for marriage, the quality of a marriage they might enter, and the odds that their marriage will last. 2 Some even raise concerns that marriage can be a trap and can expose women to domestic violence. 3 Despite these divergent views and concerns, there is a lot of common ground. Most people, including unmarried parents, value marriage and want to be married. 4 Moreover, research indicates that children thrive best when raised by both biological married parents, 5 as long as the marriage is not high-conflict. 6 Thus, for the sake of adults, children, and society, a growing consensus is emerging that it is not just marriage per se that matters, but healthy marriage. 7 But what is a healthy marriage? This Research Brief addresses that question by examining the concept of healthy marriage and the elements that, taken together, help to define it, such as commitment, marital satisfaction, and communication, as well as two elements that pose obvious threats to healthy marriage: violence and infidelity. This brief also considers factors that are antecedents and consequences of healthy marriage and distinguishes these from the definition of a healthy marriage. The result is a conceptual model that can be useful in informing the public discussion on healthy marriage and what it entails.

Parent-teen discussions about sexual and reproductive health (SRH) are associated with delayed sex and higher contraceptive use among teens. Using the National Survey of Family Growth, we conducted bivariate and multivariate analyses of different types of parent-teen SRH discussions among two cohorts of teens. We describe differences in patterns for males and females by race/ethnicity and nativity, and test for racial/ethnic interactions within each cohort. Analyses found that the prevalence of parent-teen discussions about SRH increased across cohorts. For males and females, there were increases in parent-teen discussions about condoms, and for males only, there were increases in any SRH discussions and discussions about contraception and STIs. Based on interactions, parent-teen discussions and STI discussions increased most for Hispanic females, and among Hispanics, increased most for the foreign-born. These data indicate increases in different types of parent-teen SRH discussions, particularly for males and foreign-born teens overall, and for Hispanic teen females regarding condom use. Future research should examine what factors are driving these changes, including changes in the structure of U.S. Hispanic communities and expansion of evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention programs.