The impact of grandparental proximity on maternal childcare in China

This paper investigates the impact of the proximity of grandparents' reside nce on mother's childcare involvement in contemporary China. Drawing on dat a from the 1991 China Health and Nutrition Survey, we find that the presenc e of grandparents in the household significantly reduces a mother's involve ment in childcare. Nearby residence of grandparents also decreases mothers' childcare involvement, but only in the case of paternal grandparents not m aternal grandparents. These findings suggest the importance of grandparents as childcare substitutes and the strong legacy of a patrilineal culture. O ur results point to the importance of taking into account kinship ties that extend beyond the household boundary.