Children live with relatives other than their birth parents for a number of
reasons including abandonment, death, incarceration, substance abuse, mental
illness, financial problems or an abusive or neglectful home environment.
Many of the circumstances that lead to such a living arrangement can have a
lasting emotional and psychological impact on a child.
According to the Census Bureau’s 2004 Survey of Income and Program
Participation (SIPP), the latest available survey:
The percentage of children under 18 in the United States living with two
parents declined from over 85% in 1970 to just under 70% in 2004. The
percentage of children living with at least one parent declined one
percentage point to 96%.
2.9 million children did not live with a parent. Approximately 56% lived
with a grandparent and 22% lived with another relative. 11% lived with a
foster parent.
According to the Census Bureau’s 2005-2007 American Community Survey:
48 % of Pinellas County grandparents who lived with their own
grandchildren under the age of 18 were also responsible for their care.
Approximately 4,800 households (6,645 grandparents), 2.0% of all family
households in Pinellas County, had a grandparent living with and responsible
for the care of a grandchild under the age of 18.
Of those grandparents living with and responsible for the care of their
grandchildren:
60% were responsible for their grandchildren’s care for 3 years or
more and 32% for 5 years or more
69% were under the age of 60
65% were female
65% were married (includes separated and spouse absent)
61% were working
81% were at or above the poverty level
Approximately 57% of grandchildren who were living with and under the
responsibility of a grandparent also had a parent present in the household.
Funded Agencies:
Children’s
Home – Kinship Care
Children’s Home - Kinship Services Network of Pinellas
African American Leadership Council
Sanderlin Center
Read More About It:
New Help for Children Raised by Grandparents and Other
Relatives: Questions and Answers About the Fostering Connections to Success and
Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008
