Grandparents: Hispanic Adult Millennials’ Most Trusted Parenting Resource [INSIGHT]

Sunday, September 8th is National Grandparents Day – a day to honor grandmas and grandpas everywhere and celebrate all that they do for their kids and grandkids. And within Hispanic families, Tr3s’s research has shown that los abuelos are doing quite a lot for their families. They often play a large and central role because Latinos tend to live within close proximity to each other – sometimes in the same household, sometimes in the same geographic area.

In earlier blog posts about Tr3s’s 2012 research study, Hispanic Adult Millennials Living the Next Normal: Age of Uncertainty, we’ve shown that Hispanic Adult Millennials are risk-averse. Those who have kids of their own are highly protective — and out of this desire to keep their kids safe, they are very particular about who they feel comfortable enough to allow into their children’s lives. Because they’re so trusted, Grandma and Grandpa are often called upon to help with kid-related tasks and give much-needed advice.

Here are some additional key findings about Hispanic Adult Millennials and grandparents to emerge from this research:

Grandparents are #1 in Hispanic parents’ trust circles. For parents who are Hispanic Adult Millennials or foreign-born Hispanics in their thirties, the most trusted figures in their lives are their own parents.  In our qualitative work, several respondents actually questioned whether they could fully trust aunts, uncles, or cousins with their kids.  This is an example of the contracting Millennial trust circles we’ve seen over the last few years.

Grandparents are heavily involved the day-to-day care of Hispanic Adult Millennials’ kids. About three out of four are involved in Hispanic Adult Millennials’ daily childrearing. They are over 30% more likely than non-Hispanic Millennials’ parents to report being highly involved in these activities.  

When it comes to childrearing information, Hispanic Adult Millennials trust their child’s Grandma more than the internet. More than half of Hispanic parents say they receive the most information about kids from their own parents. While young Hispanic parents do search for childrearing information online, less than 1 in 10 say the internet is their #1 source for this type of information.   This means Hispanic Adult Millennials’ parents are heavy influencers in all things related to child-rearing.

Hispanic grandparents are more likely to help out in the kitchen and with errands. Compared with their non-Hispanic counterparts, Hispanic Adult Millennial’s parents are 70% more likely to help with cooking and 27% more likely to assist with shopping.  

Source: Tr3s 2012 “Hispanic Adult Millennials Living the Next Normal: Age of Uncertainty”