Expectations of fulfilling the grandparent role in the context of maintaining professional activity. Analysis of an international survey

Abstract

This article aims to assess the expectations of fulfilling the role of grandparents in the context of maintaining professional activity. In the study, data from an international survey conducted using a proprietary questionnaire (the CAWI method) among representatives from 7 European countries was used. The main objective was to find possible differences in the perception of the grandmother’s and grandfather’s roles depending on the characteristics of the respondent. The survey was conducted in May 2022, and the total research sample was 3,008 people. The analysis focused on the respondents’ answers to eight statements on taking care of grandchildren and work-related decisions. The study employed exploratory factor analysis and non-parametric tests (Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis test) to check for differences in assessments according to the respondent characteristics. Statistically significant differences were found between the answers of respondents who differ in age, gender, and place of residence. Factor analysis made it possible to identify two factors: the first one may be named ‘long-term support’ and the second factor may be labelled ‘temporary - emergency care’; this provided a basis for synthesising the analysed statements.