Caring for grandchildren may increase longevity in older adults
“We demonstrated the benefits across a wide range of results,” says Dr Rosanne Freak-Poli, senior author of the report. “What stands out to me is that this is beneficial for both men and women. In the past we weren’t sure because of gender roles, but we showed that.”
The health and longevity advantages are likely due to a combination of factors, researchers say.
“Anyone who has had children knows that caring for a child is a challenge. Whether it’s five minutes or an hour, you take care of it in a different way,” says Freak-Poli.
Preparing meals for their grandchildren and eating with them can improve grandparents’ nutrition; There are physical activities such as walking around, climbing up and down, playing with children and cuddling them; the cognitive preoccupation of trying to explain big (or not-so-big) concepts to little minds; plus the social stimulation and sense of purpose it can bring.
“These are all things that keep us physically and cognitively active, while also improving our health and well-being,” Freak-Poli says.
The study’s lead author, Dr Htet Lin Htun, suspects that the longevity benefits among men (who, unlike female participants, had lower rates of dementia) may be because caregiving is new to this generation.
“That might trigger something in their mind—to do something significant and meaningful later in life—but for women, it’s just another day of taking care of other people.”
Interestingly, although men benefited more physically (women also reported more aches and pains), the traditional subjective identity of “caregiver” may explain why female participants in the study reported greater mental well-being, Freak-Poli says.
Htun adds that it’s not just caregivers who have better outcomes. “Children who meet grandparents have better health and learn better than children who do not.”
Gabrielle Ingate’s involvement has been constant since she moved back to Sydney from America when her grandson Charlie was three. Three generations live together.
There are no set charity days as the 68-year-old travels regularly and has an active social life, but she tries to ease the parenting burden as much as possible, regularly taking Charlie to Nippers, swimming and picking him up from school.
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“I really enjoy when Charlie and I do things,” says the retired dentist.
Although he is conscious of reminding his grandchild about etiquette and eye contact, he appreciates the unique role of being a grandparent and not having to act as a disciplinarian.
“Charlie always says, ‘Let’s have ice cream. Let’s have this.’ And [her mum would say] ‘We don’t eat ice cream.’ Of course I ignore that,” he chuckled.
“’Are you going to tell my mother?’ he said. “And I said, ‘If he asks, yes, we’ll never lie, but let’s not’… so it’s a fun thing.”
Gabrielle Ingate says she helped care for her grandson Charlie as much as she could, driving him to Nippers and picking him up from school.Credit: Edwina Pickles
The day we spoke, Ingate had bought a puzzle to assemble with the 10-year-old after picking him up from school. He admits that there are days when he’d rather sit and read a book, but his desire to contribute is greater: “I think it keeps you young and active.”
In Australia, around 70 per cent of grandparents provide some form of care for their families, while 20 per cent of households have three generations living under the same roof. This is a trend that will continue as the global aging population rapidly increases. It is estimated that by 2050, one in six people worldwide will be over the age of 65.
As the population ages, it is important to understand how to protect and improve people’s health and well-being.
This includes the advantages of social prescribing, an approach to healthcare in which patients are connected to non-medical services; for example, caregiving by grandparents or non-biological “voluntary” grandparents. Htun says this would take the strain off family connections, which could allow more people to be involved in caregiving responsibilities.
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“Intergenerational care can be applied to social prescribing as an intervention,” he adds.
2025 social health report World Health Organization He points out that social connection reduces inflammation levels and reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke, dementia and depression.
“The effects of social connection have been underrecognized for too long,” the authors say. “Social health is not an optional extra, it is an integral part of health.”
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