Making ends meet while raising grandchildren

By Karen Best Wright, B.S., M.A.

www.RaisingYourGrandchildren.com

I receive a mountain of emails from grandparents who are struggling financially to make ends meet while raising their grandchildren. According to my survey, of the 2919 people who answered a question about their biggest issues, 63.9% wrote that financial issues were their biggest  probelm.

Often I receive emails from mostly grandmothers wanting to know where they can get financial assistance. There is some help out there for most grandparents, but sometimes the amount is so minimal, it might only  cover the cost to clothe the children or maybe feed them, if you are one of the fortunate ones. But one thing is sure, we must not look for government help to cover all of the needs of grandparents and grandchildren.

I have a dear friend who is a grandmother raising a 2 1/2 year old granddaughter. Obviously she needs a sitter when she works. I am extremely impressed with the ambition and determination of my friend. Katherine is educated with a master's degree but was unable to find satisfactory work. So she does about anything. She cleans people's houses, cooks food for parties, sews costumes, and runs errands for elderly clients.

I am so impressed with Katherine. She is about 5 years younger than I am (early 50"s), but appears to have the energy of a younger woman. Even though her education has not helped her get a job in her industry, I believe it has helped her with a healthy self-esteem and ambition to do whatever she needs to do in these difficult economic times. When I met her husband the other day, he asked if I was one of her clients. Me? I couldn't afford to hire her to help me with my many chores and the like. I wish I could. Katherine explained to her husband that I was the one who has the www.RaisingYourGrandchildren.com website."Oh!" He responded.

I am so impressed with the ingenuity of so many grandmothers. They do what they have to do. In these difficult econmic times, it is hard on most people, but older people who are raising children they had not been expecting to raise, often find themselves in very different situations than they had expected at midlife.

It is obvious that we can't count on the government to help enough to really make a difference in our financial situation. In fact, I am of the type, that believes women need greater opportunities to earn the money they need, while at the same time caring for grandchildren.

Wouldn't it be great as grandparents who have a skill to market, if we banned together to promote our services, allowing us ways to market ourselves, while we raise children. Raising these children are our future. They will be the ones making decision when we are old and need to be taken care of.

Please share any ideas that you might be doing to earn extra money (legitimate ideas) to care for your grandchildren.

Karen Best Wright, B.S. M.A. Holistic Health & Wellness Educator/Coach

The Wellness Way

http://www.thewellnessway.org

 

Comments

[Sandy]

Could you do more about pre-teen grandchilren. Tried to email you but could not get through.

[Susan Adcox]

I agree with you that when grandparents take on the task of raising grandchildren, they must not expect any entity to cover all the costs involved. At the same time, I do believe that grandparents should get the same benefits that foster parents get. Many grandparents are in a double bind. They are having to extend their working careers to provide for their grandchildren and yet the energy they expend caring for grandchildren causes them to have less energy for their careers. This is especially truly of grandparents who get the call at an advanced age. I've even corresponded with a number of great-grandparents who are raising their grandchildren.

As for legitimate ways of making money, writing and editing jobs may allow you the flexibility of working from home. Unfortunately, for every person who earns a good salary doing such, there are a hundred who make very little.

I'm sorry to be so negative. Hugs to Katherine and congratulations to her for her indomitable spirit.

[Robert]

I am a young Grandfather of 53 raising our 3 yr old Grandson with my wife. Did not expect this and didn't want to do it in the begining but the little guy just keeps growing on me. My wife stays home while I work am and have very little money if any left. I am trying to bring my trade online to make extra money.

[Karen Wright]

To Susan,
I don't think you were negative, just realistic. It is really hard on grandparents whether young or older to financially take care of the children. You make a good point about the cost spent on foster care but not equal help for grandparents. Foster care payments often do not even properly cover the cost of raising children, but it is a heck of a lot better than what grandparents receive.

[Deborah Doucette]

I am the author of "Raising Our Children's Children" and have raised my granddaughter who is now 21 years old. Many of your questions are dealt with in my book. However, the issue of finances and government aid has not changed over the past 20 years...unfortunately grandparents raising grandchildren are on their own. There are ways to get assitance if income levels fall below a certain mark, but the only way to get the kind of money foster parents get is to give up control of your grandchildren to the Department of Social Services in your area...something that NO ONE wants to do or should do! Its a nightmare scenario! There are ways go cope and some help which varies from state to state. In some states you can get help from your Department of Elder Affairs, others Childen's Welfare Departments. Its something you just have to explore and push for. Just know that its worth it in the end and we are all blessed to have our grandchildren with us, safe and secure!

[maviyan]

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http://www.surveytool.com/customer-satisfaction-questionnaires/