Grandmothers who raise working parents' children: Influences on grandchildren, behavior management styles, and educational needs

Abstract

Objective The aim of the study was to examine perspectives on helping raise grandchildren among Turkish grandmothers who care for working parents' children. Background Grandparents helping raise their grandchildren has become increasingly common as a means to support women's employment. In Turkey, the Büyükanne Projesi (Grandma Project) was carried out in 2017 with the support of the government. This project encouraged grandmothers to help raise their grandchildren to encourage women's participation in the workforce. The importance of grandmothers in the family system and the role of raising grandchildren has gradually increased. Method This research is qualitative and phenomenological. Sixteen grandmothers living in Turkey participated in the research. Participants were selected by criterion sampling, a purposive sampling method. Results The study's findings were categorized into three main themes: the effects of being raised by grandmothers on grandchildren, grandmothers' behavior management styles, and grandmothers' educational needs. Conclusion While raising the children of working parents, grandmothers strive to instill societal and familial values to the children. In so doing, grandmothers appear to prefer democratic and child‐centered behavior‐management methods over authoritarian and oppressive ones. It was noted that grandmothers have some educational needs, especially with regard to child development issues. Implications Grandmothers' childrearing practices can be improved with training. Grandmothers can play an important role in raising children to increase women's participation in the workforce and to help support the family economically.