Baby Boomers are changing the face of Grandparents
Day, which is Sunday.
This isn't your parents' Grandparents Day.
As Baby Boomers age and become grandparents themselves, Grandparents Day, which is Sunday, is taking on a whole new symbolic meaning of how we age, how we parent and, ultimately, how we grandparent.
According to data from Grandparents.com, 54 percent of today's grandparents are Baby Boomers. Almost 38 million grandparents are younger than 65 years old. To keep this in perspective, remember there are about 78 million Baby Boomers.
In 1990, the oldest Baby Boomer was just 44 years old and Boomer grandparents were few in number, according to a Grandparents.com study. By 2015 more than half of U.S. grandparents (59 percent) will be Baby Boomers.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of Grandparents Day. It is not, as some may believe, a Hallmark card created day. Then President Jimmy Carter proclaimed the day to recognize “the importance and the worth of the [then] 17 million grandparents in our nation.”
In rethinking the role of grandparents, think of how different this generation of grandparents will be. According to some Grandparents.com stats:
- 43 percent exercise or play sports
- 28 percent volunteer on a regular basis
- 75 percent are online
- 45 percent are on social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Yahoo! Groups
- 60 percent still have a full-time or part-time job
- 23 percent have started their own business
As significant as the cultural offerings these grandparents will have is the power of their pocketbook, according to the Grandparent.com stats:
- They control 75 percent of the wealth in this country;
- They have the highest average net worth of any other age group ($254,000);
- By 2010, they will earn the highest average income;
- They spend $52 billion every year on their grandkids alone.
- They spend $32 billion on education-related costs.
- 62 percent have provided financial support to their adult children and grandchildren in the last 12 months.
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