GRANDMOTHER INVOLVEMENT IN CHILD CAREGIVING IN AN URBAN-COMMUNITY

In a community-defined, epidemiologic sample in East Baltimore, we exa mined grandmothers' rates of co-residence and their;involvement in fou r parenting activities. Co-residence rates exceeded the national avera ge. Six types of family households with grandmothers were identified, and their frequency varied by race. Neither grandmother age nor employ ment was associated with grandmothers' parenting involvement, although family structure was. Grandmothers who were the sole parent (21%) or co-parent with a grandfather (6.5%) were most involved in child care a nd had the fewest number of helpers. Grandmothers living with single m others (41%) were the next most involved, while grandmothers in mother /father households (9%) were least involved.