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Baby boomers ponder move from parenthood to grandparenthood

The Baltimore Examiner, 9/10/09

Abstract:

This isn't your parents' Grandparents Day.

As baby boomers age and become grandparents themselves, Grandparents Day, which is Sunday, is taking on a whole new symbolic meaning of how we age, how we parent and, ultimately, how we grandparent.

According to data from Grandparents.com, 54 percent of today's grandparents are baby boomers. Almost 38 million grandparents are younger than 65 years old. To keep this in perspective, remember there are about 78 million baby boomers.

In 1990, the oldest baby boomer was just 44 years old and boomer grandparents were few in number, according to a Grandparents.com study. By 2015 more than half of U.S. grandparents (59 percent) will be baby boomers.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of Grandparents Day. It is not, as some may believe, a Hallmark card created day. Then President Jimmy Carter proclaimed the day to recognize “the importance and the worth of the [then] 17 million grandparents in our nation.”

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