ADULT CHILDRENS DIVORCE AND INTERGENERATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS

We examine effects of adult children's divorce on several dimensions o f their relationships with parents, using a local probability sample o f 905 parents. We find that an adult child's divorce is a fairly commo n experience for parents. Approximately half of parents above age 60 w ho have at least one ever-married child have experienced a child's div orce. The experience of currently having grandchildren not in an adult child's custody is much less common, but affects around 1 in 10 paren ts in their sixties at a given time. The effects, of divorce differ be tween sons and daughters. In general, divorced daughters with child cu stody have more contact than married daughters and receive more help f rom parents. Sons, on the other hand, receive more babysitting help wh en they are married than in other situations. Divorce does not decreas e daughters' help to parents, as some observers have feared. Grandchil dren are viewed as pivotal in these relations. We discuss implications for future intergenerational relations and suggestions for further re search.