Bailey and Foster

Many took over child care during the crack cocaine epidemic of the 1980s, especially among African-American families.Now grandparents are stepping up again, Census Bureau data show. This time, the burden is largely shifting to low-income white families.As the middle generation has been hollowed out by the abuse of opioids and other substances, the oldest generation has become increasingly responsible for their grandkids, experts say. It's a responsibility that many didn't expect and weren't prepared for. Retired folks find themselves trading their sedans for minivans, moving out of their adult-only communities, and searching for work to cover the expenses that come with raising a child.The shift tends to be sharpest in rural, mostly white states such as New Hampshire and West Virginia, which also ranked in the top three in substance-abuse death rates. These figures are for the five-year period ending in 2017, the most recent available. Death rates are reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Synthetic opioids have hit black communities hard since then.The weight the opioid crisis has placed on grandparents was made heavier by changes to the foster care system, experts say, particularly the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008, which encouraged the placement of children with relatives.The limited data available on the Native American population show a large and rising share of grandparents in those communities are also taking care of grandkids. The fastest-in-the-nation increase in children being cared for by grandparents was in South Dakota and concentrated in counties with large Native American populations.Meanwhile, grandparent caregiving of black children has declined as the share of black children living in poverty has fallen.Statistics often focus on the number of grandparent caregivers, rather than the share of children cared for primarily by grandparents. These figures could be distorted by falling fertility rates and an aging population.Pa...

Many took over child care during the crack cocaine epidemic of the 1980s, especially among African American families. Now grandparents are stepping up again, Census Bureau data shows. This time, the burden is largely shifting to low-income white families. As the middle generation has been hollowed out by the abuse of opioids and other substances, the oldest generation has become increasingly responsible for their grandkids, experts say. It’s a responsibility that many didn’t expect and weren’t prepared for. Retired folks find themselves trading their sedans for minivans, moving out of their adult-only communities, and searching for work to cover the expenses that come with raising a child. [The opioid crisis is straining the nation’s foster-care systems] The shift tends to be sharpest in rural, mostly white states such as New Hampshire and West Virginia, which also ranked in the top three in substance-abuse death rates. These figures are for the five-year period ending in 2017, the most recent available. Death rates are reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Synthetic opioids have hit black communities hard since then. [Fentanyl drug overdose deaths rising most sharply among African Americans] The weight the opioid crisis has placed on grandparents was made heavier by changes to the foster-care system, experts say, particularly the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008, which encouraged the placement of children with relatives. The limited data available on the Native American population shows a large and rising share of grandparents in those communities are also taking care of grandkids. The fastest-in-the-nation increase in children being cared for by grandparents was in South Dakota and concentrated in counties with large Native American populations. Meanwhile, grandparent caregiving of black children has declined as the share of black children living in poverty has fallen. Statistics often focus on the number of grandparent caregivers, ra...