SURVEY
From Generation to Generation: Grandparents Imparting Lessons, Legacy, and Love
From Generation to Generation:
Grandparents Imparting Lessons,
Legacy, and Love
A MetLife Survey of African-American, Asian Indian,
and Chinese Grandparents
June 2010
Mature Market
I N S T I T U T E
The MetLife Mature Market Institute®
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Table of Contents
2
Overview
3
Key Findings
6
Major Findings
6
Financial Assistance Sometimes Involves Real Sacrifice
8
Building a Relationship — Money Isn’t Everything
10
Grandparents Agree About the Importance of Cultural and
Family Values
10
Smaller but Steady Financial Support Is Preferred, Perhaps in Response
to Their Concerns for Their Grandchildren
12
Grandma and Grandpa: Still a Great Source of Financial Wisdom
(and Very Often the Kids Actually Listen!)
15
Experience Allows Grandparents to Speak with Confidence About
Basic Financial Protection
16
Conclusion and Implications
18
Methodology
19
Demographics
Overview
Whether they are called “Grandma” and “Granddad,” “Grandma” and “Dada,”
or “Pau Pau” and “Yeh Yeh,” grandparents embody a critical cultural and
financial link uniting their heritages, their familes, and the future. In From
Generation to Generation: Grandparents Imparting Lessons, Legacy, and Love, a
nationwide survey of African-American, Asian Indian, and Chinese grandparents,
the MetLife Mature Market Institute (MMI) uncovered both distinctive cultural
hallmarks as well as underlying universal values that grandparents share
with both their adult children as well as their grandchildren. They also share
generously of their time, caring, wisdom, and often their financial resources.
Generally, however, in comparison to cultural and family issues, they feel more
comfortable in an indirect role in advising their adult children and grandchildren
on financial matters.
2
Many of the results of this survey parallel findings from the 2009 MMI survey
Grandparents — Generous with Money, Not with Advice. Grandparents are
active and generous with both their grandchildren and their own adult children.
This survey also discovered that grandparents serve as a rich trove of resources
and guidance in reinforcing basic cultural, religious, and personal/family values
such as honesty, good behavior, and education, which are the foundation of
both personal development within their family, as well as within their broader
cultural community.
Key Findings
Wide Agreement About Passing Down Important Values
Cultural
• There is consistency among the grandparents on what cultural values they
seek to pass down to their children and grandchildren. The most frequently
cited were heritage/ancestry (80%), cultural beliefs (79%), holiday traditions
(78%), and customs (77%).
Personal/Family
• Grandparents in all three groups identified similar personal and family values
that were highly important, with honesty (97%), education (96%), and good
behavior (96%) leading the way.
Popular Names for Grandparents
• “Grandma” (28%) and “Granddad” (17%) are the most popular names among
African-American grandparents, while “Grandma” (13%) and “Dada” (18%)
top the list for Asian Indian families, and “Pau Pau” (16%) and “Yeh Yeh”
(18%) for grandparents among Chinese households.
Time and Caregiving Define the Generations
• About one-third (32%) are providing direct caregiving for their grandchildren,
typically to one or two grandchildren. Primarily, care is given daily (54%) or
several times per week (30%).
• More than half (53%) spend 10 hours or more a week with their grandchildren,
with many (11%) who are living in the same household with grandchildren.
• The median number of hours spent with adult children each week is 10 hours
for all three groups.
3
> From Generation to Generation
Overview
Financial Concerns for Grandchildren
Education Costs Are a Leading Concern
• Across all three groups, education costs (49%) and health costs (21%) are the
two main financial concerns for the future of their grandchildren.
Support Now Trumps Legacy Later
• Grandparents among the three groups studied exhibited a preference for
distributing smaller gifts throughout their lifetimes (46%) in comparison
to leaving a larger sum as a legacy at death (28%). However just over
one-quarter (26%) indicated that they were unsure about their choice in
this matter.
• Of those who responded, 62% prefer to provide smaller financial gifts as
needed compared to 38% who prefer to leave a larger sum as a legacy. This
is somewhat lower than the results from the 2009 poll of all grandparents
where 78% prefer to gift as needed and 22% would rather leave a lump sum.
Some Grandparents Push for Basic Economic Protection for Grandchildren
• Overall, more than a third (37%) have encouraged or spoken to their adult
children about how life insurance can protect the future of their grandchildren.
• Significantly more African-Americans have spoken about the benefits of life
insurance (69%). Fewer Chinese (18%) and Asian Indians (23%) have had
these conversations.
• Few Chinese and Asian Indians would consider buying life insurance for their
adult children to protect their grandchildren’s financial security (7%–8%).
Over a third (39%) of the African-Americans would consider it.
Providing Financial Assistance
“Cash Is King” As Financial Support and Gifts
• Just over a third (36%) have provided financial assistance to their grandchildren
in the past five years.
• There are cultural differences related to providing this financial support —
the majority (65%) of African-Americans have provided assistance, compared
to 12% of Chinese, and 31% of Asian Indians.
4
• Of those who have provided assistance, almost half (49%) have given less
than $5,000.
• The primary form of assistance has been cash or in-kind gifts, results which are
similar to what was found in the 2009 survey.
Reasons for Assistance
• Education (36%) and general support (43%) are the main reasons for the
support from grandparents, which is similar to the 2009 survey. Other top
reasons include car purchase/lease (12%) and life event (10%).
Many Grandparents Sacrifice
• About three in 10 (29%) of those providing assistance have increased the
amount as a result of the current economic conditions, consistent with 2009
survey results (26%).
• A similar percentage (28%) report the assistance is having a negative impact
on their own finances.
• Twenty-seven percent report they used to provide support, but can’t anymore
due to tight finances.
Grandparents Promote Sound Basic Financial Advice for Both Adult Children
and Grandkids
• About one-third are providing financial advice to their grandchildren, very
similar to the 2009 survey where 32% were providing advice.
• Seventy percent of African-American grandparents are offering advice or
guidance to their grandchildren, compared to 25% of Asian Indians, and very
few Chinese grandparents (7%).
• Slightly more of the grandparents surveyed are providing financial advice to
their adult children (45%). African-Americans (72%), especially, are more
likely to give advice to their children, compared to Chinese (28%) and Asian
Indians (34%).
• Saving for the future is a key message to grandchildren: the main reasons for
the advice that grandparents are giving to their grandchildren across all three
groups is to make sure they save and have guarantees against uncertainties.
Saving is also a key message to the adult children across all groups; most
advise about saving and investing early and not getting into too much debt.
5
> From Generation to Generation
Major Findings
Financial Assistance Sometimes Involves
Real Sacrifice
Grandparents in the three groups surveyed are all providing their adult children
and grandchildren ample amounts of their time, financial resources, and a living
legacy of cultural and family values, albeit with some distinctive differences
between the groups in terms of relative importance among these issues. For
example, while overall 36% of grandparents provided financial assistance or
monetary gifts to grandchildren directly or through their parents in the past five
years, there was considerable difference between the groups. Almost two-thirds
of African-American grandparents (65%) contributed in this way, while 31% of
the Asian Indian grandparents did, and 12% of Chinese grandparents.
Figure 1: Provided Financial Assistance in the Past Five Years
Chinese
Asian Indian
12%
31%
African-American
Total
6
65%
36%
Among those who are providing assistance, almost half (49%) have given less
than $5,000 in the last five years, about one-quarter gave between $5,000 to
$25,000, while 10% have contributed over $25,000. Fourteen percent were
unsure or declined to answer. In the 2009 survey of grandparents in the general
population, 70% had given $5,000 or less to their grandchildren, and only 4%
had given $25,000 or more. Although a much smaller percentage of Chinese
grandparents have provided assistance, those who do tend to provide larger
amounts of support, with 22% providing $25,000 or more in the past five years.
Cash gifts are the primary type of support grandparents in all three groups
provide, especially among Chinese (71%), and African-American (65%) grandparents. More African-American grandparents also make use of other means of
support in comparison to Chinese and Asian Indians — 44% provide in-kind gifts
(i.e., a car, furniture, computer), 20% use U.S. Savings Bonds, and 15% use life
insurance proceeds. In-kind gifting is also frequently used by Asian Indian (24%)
and Chinese (17%) grandparents as a form of support.
Overall, for those providing financial assistance, general financial support is the
most frequent reason (43%), followed by support for education costs (36%).
Other top reasons include a car purchase or lease (12%) and life events (10%).
African-American grandparents (59%) are more likely to identify general
support as the purpose for their assistance, in comparison to Asian Indian (21%)
and Chinese (14%) grandparents. Education is a very consistent focus for
Chinese (36%), Asian Indian (35%), and African-American (36%) grandparents.
Sometimes financial assistance goes beyond generosity to the point of a large
proportion of grandparents making sacrifices on behalf of the financial needs
and well-being of adult children and grandchildren. The economic turmoil of the
past few years has certainly had such an impact on grandparents in these three
groups who are assisting their own children and grandchildren. About three in
10 (29%) stated that they are providing more financial assistance now than in the
past due to these economic conditions, consistent with what was found in the
2009 survey where 26% of grandparents agreed that this was the case.
A similar result is evident, primarily among Asian Indian and African-American
grandparents, regarding those who are experiencing a negative impact on their
own finances, with 28% identifying this as a consequence of their support for
their family. More than one-fifth (22%) of all grandparents had identified this
result in the 2009 survey. Similar evidence of financial duress for some is that
in general 27% stated that they used to provide financial assistance, but can
no longer do so due to restrictions on their own finances, especially among
African-American grandparents.
7
> From Generation to Generation
Major Findings
Figure 2: Personal Impact of Financial Assistance
I am providing more financial assistance to my adult
children/grandchildren now than in the past
due to current economic conditions
The financial assistance I am providing to my adult
children/grandchildren is having a negative
impact on my own finances
I used to provide support but cannot anymore
due to tight finances
29%
28%
27%
Building a Relationship —
Money Isn’t Everything
Caregiving goes along with caring, and grandparents extend themselves to their
families with their time and caregiving as well as their money. Almost one-third
(32%) provide direct caregiving, typically to one or two grandchildren, with 15%
of grandparents providing care for four or more grandchildren. Over half who
provide direct caregiving (54%) do so on a daily basis, while another 30% are
caregiving several times a week. Asian Indian (64%) and African-American (62%)
grandparents are especially likely to be providing care on a daily basis. Nationwide,
2.5 million grandparents are responsible for their grandchildren’s most basic
needs (food, shelter, and clothing).1 This number represents about 40% of all
grandparents who live with their grandchildren.
The grandparents surveyed are spending a median (i.e., 50% spend more time,
50% spend less time) of 12 hours per week with their grandchildren, with over
half (53%) who are spending 10 hours or more per week with their grandchildren. A sizable minority (11%) spend 60 hours or more a week with their
grandchildren, indicating that they may in fact be living in the same household
as their adult children and grandchildren. The monetary value of this level of
caregiving assistance is significant in addition to their direct financial contributions.
8
1
Facts for Features: “Grandparents Day 2008,” U.S. Census Bureau, July 7, 2008.
Figure 3: Median Hours Spent with Adult Children and Grandchildren Per Week
15
12
10
10
Chinese
10
Asian Indian
Hours spent with adult children
10
African-American
Hours spent with grandchildren
Similar patterns emerge in time spent with adult children, with 38% of grandparents overall spending less than 10 hours, and another 21% spending between
10–20 hours. The median number of hours spent with adult children is 10 hours
per week.
Another family relationship builder within a multicultural perspective is that
each culture has its favorite endearing name for grandparents. While there were
myriad alternatives in this survey, a few front-runners emerged with the three
groups. The main names for African-Americans were “Grandma” and “Granddad,” while Asian Indians were most likely to use “Grandma” and “Dada,” and
Chinese grandparents use “Pau Pau” and “Mama” for grandmothers and “Yeh
Yeh” and “Gong Gong” for grandfathers.
Figure 4: Popular Names for Grandparents
African-American
Grand ma/
Grandma
28%
Granddaddy/
Granddad
17%
Asian Indian
Grand ma/
Grandma
Dada
Chinese
Yeh Yeh
18%
13%
Pau Pau
16%
18%
Ma ma/Mama
13%
Gong Gong
9
11%
> From Generation to Generation
Major Findings
Grandparents Agree About the Importance
of Cultural and Family Values
Whatever their distinctive cultural perspective, there are some things grandparents
seem to be on the same page about — the importance of cultural values and
expression, and personal/family values. The most frequently identified personal
and family values grandparents seek to instill in their children and grandchildren
are honesty (97%), good behavior (96%), appreciation for education (96%),
good health (95%), and self-sufficiency (94%). These are followed very closely
by preserving family relationships (92%), diligence (91%), and creating financial
security (89%). The relative importance of these core personal and family values
are commonly and dramatically shared among grandparents in all three groups
surveyed, with a difference in only the area of financial security, which was
endorsed very highly by all three groups, but more so among Asian Indian (92%)
and African-American (91%) than Chinese (84%) grandparents.
Similar patterns emerged among the cultural values grandparents strive to
instill in their children and grandchildren. Overall, cultural values about heritage
and ancestry (80%), cultural beliefs (79%), holiday traditions/observances (78%),
and customs (77%) were the most frequently cited. Somewhat fewer put
emphasis on religion (70%), generally as a result of many fewer Chinese (38%)
grandparents emphasizing this cultural value. In fact, Asian Indians and AfricanAmericans generally placed more emphasis on these cultural issues than their
Chinese counterparts although again all were overwhelmingly supported by all
the grandparents.
Smaller but Steady Financial Support Is
Preferred, Perhaps in Response to Their
Concerns for Their Grandchildren
10
Grandparents among the three groups studied exhibited a preference for distributing smaller gifts throughout their lifetimes (46%) in comparison to leaving
a larger sum as a legacy at death (28%). However more than one-quarter (26%)
indicated that they were unsure about their choice in this matter, possibly
indicating that they are taking a wait-and-see attitude about distributing their
support. Of the grandparents who responded, 62% prefer to provide smaller
financial gifts as needed compared to 38% who prefer to leave a larger sum as a
legacy. These results are somewhat lower than the results from grandparents in
the general population in 2009, where 22% preferred a lump sum, while a much
larger majority (78%) intended to provide smaller gifts over their lifetimes.
There may be some explanation for these consistent results in grandparent
financial concerns for their grandchildren’s future. Education costs were cited by
almost half of all the grandparents (49%) as their major concern, followed by
health costs for their grandchildren (21%), buying a home (17%), and the cost of
raising a family (15%). Many more African-American grandparents (82%) placed
a particular emphasis on education in comparison to the other groups. Since
educational costs may take place at different times for their grandchildren while
the grandparents are still living, along with the fact that the grandparents are
relatively young (the average age is 62.3), smaller, more targeted support strategies
may allow grandparents to exert more selective control over their own resources
and financial assistance provided.
Figure 5: Top Five Financial Concerns for Grandchildren
Education costs
49%
Health costs
21%
Buying a home
17%
Cost of raising a family
Wedding costs
15%
8%
11
> From Generation to Generation
Major Findings
Grandma and Grandpa: Still a Great Source
of Financial Wisdom (and Very Often the Kids
Actually Listen!)
Overall, about one-third (34%) of the grandparents surveyed are providing
financial advice to their grandchildren. African-American grandparents take the
lead in comparison to the other groups surveyed when it comes to dispensing
financial advice to grandchildren, with 70% doing so, making them more than
twice as likely as either Asian Indian (25%) or Chinese (7%) grandparents to do
so. Chinese grandparents were also much more likely to be providing advice
directly to their adult children rather than to grandchildren, while Asian Indians
were somewhat more likely to include grandchildren. The results for these two
groups are closer to the findings from the 2009 study, where approximately 68%
of grandparents did not share advice on financial matters. African-American
grandparents typically feel that their entire immediate family can benefit from
their advice, and so a large majority of them spread it generously.
The major reason among the three groups for not providing advice is concern
that their grandchildren may be too young to understand the advice they might
provide. In the case of not talking with their adult children, a significant percentage (38%) of them are concerned that they don’t know enough about financial
issues while over one-quarter (28%) feel that their children are not interested.
Figure 6: Provide Financial Advice to Adult Children and Grandchildren
Chinese
Asian Indian
28%
7%
34%
25%
72%
African-American
70%
45%
Total
34%
12
Advice to adult children
Advice to grandchildren
When they do provide advice, their emphasis on basic and sound financial
principles emerges very prominently, as it did in the 2009 study. Starting early
in the practice of saving and investing is their key message, with almost as many
recommending maintaining control over the amount of debt incurred. Having
basic financial security through essential financial products such as savings
accounts, life insurance, employer pensions, and IRAs is another, followed closely
by spreading out risk through a diverse financial product mix.
Figure 7: Types of Financial Advice to Adult Children and Grandchildren
70%
Start saving and investing early in life
64%
54%
Make sure you have basic financial security
41%
62%
Don’t get into too much debt
53%
50%
Don’t put all your financial eggs in one basket
38%
Get a good job/work hard
1%
2%
Advice to adult children
Get an education/stay in school
Other
0%
4%
Advice to grandchildren
3%
4%
The reasons for grandparents delivering this message are also instructive in
helping prepare their families for a sound financial future. The top reasons cited
by grandparents in all three groups were to ensure that their grandchildren
begin saving (60%), and to help them establish guarantees against future
uncertainties (36%). A smaller percentage (17%) identified more immediate
decisions such as a home purchase.
13
> From Generation to Generation
Major Findings
Grandparents seem to be helping their children and grandchildren think longterm with sound fundamental financial principles, perhaps grounded in dealing
with the financial uncertainties of the past few years still fresh in their minds.
Figure 8: Top Three Reasons for Financial Advice to Grandchildren
To make sure they save
60%
Guarantees against uncertainties
They bought a house
36%
17%
These basic tenets of sound financial planning, and essential financial literacy
issues delivered by a respected and beloved family member, and the reasons for
grandparents delivering it, combine to have a real potential impact — a large
majority of these grandparents actually find that their children and grandchildren
follow their advice. Over half find that their adult children (52%) and grandchildren (54%) follow their advice frequently or most of the time. An additional
32% report that their grandchildren follow their advice at least sometimes, and
40% report the same for their adult children.
14
Experience Allows Grandparents to
Speak with Confidence About Basic
Financial Protection
Despite the self-perceived lack of knowledge about finances, the survey results
also demonstrate that when grandparents have direct experience with financial
products and strategies, they are potentially more willing to be direct and vocal
with their advice. For example, 69% of African-American grandparents have spoken
to their adult children about protecting the future needs and opportunities for
their grandchildren through basic financial protection products such as life
insurance. In contrast, 23% of Asian Indian and 18% of Chinese grandparents
have done the same. Overall, 37% of the grandparents have had this discussion.
Of those who have not spoken to their adult children about this issue, 33% of
African-American grandparents would do so, while 13% of Asian Indian and 4%
of Chinese grandparents would.
A possible explanation for some of this disparity may be in the higher rates of
African-American grandparent life insurance ownership (61%), and potential
ownership (11%) when compared to Asian Indian (35% and 3% respectively),
and Chinese grandparents (44% and From Generation to Generation
Conclusion and Implications
The multicultural perspectives from three distinctive groups in this survey help
reinforce fundamental realities of grandparenthood—they are willing contributors
to the financial well-being, cultural foundation, and deep interpersonal relationships that define intergenerational family connections. As was discovered in
2009 in Grandparents — Generous with Money, Not with Advice for the general
U.S. grandparent population, African-American, Asian Indian, and Chinese
grandparents share many basic values about their legacy for their adult children
and grandchildren, the major one being the transfer of important cultural roots
and family/personal values which will ensure the future of many generations.
But the values go beyond simply ideas and traditions. It is also apparent in the
practices of many of them such as providing financial support directly to their
immediate family, even to the point of sacrificing their own financial security.
It is there as well in the amount of time and direct caregiving they provide. The
contributions of time, attention, and caring form the real basis of the bond and
relationship within the family.
It became evident through both of these surveys
that generally grandparents clearly understand
the importance of basic financial security. They
demonstrate it through their reliance on fundamental
financial protection through life insurance, savings,
and pension/IRA products for themselves, and in their
motivation for passing along advice about these
products to their own children and grandchildren.
The soundness of the financial advice they give,
and their recognition of the importance of core
socioeconomic realities such as education, savings,
financial diversification, control of debt, etc.,
demonstrate that they can be a significant positive resource and influence on
their families and broader communities.
THE ESSENCE OF
GRANDPARENT
SUPPORT:
CASH, CONTACT,
AND CULTURE
16
Despite the wisdom of their advice, there is a very observable reluctance on the
part of most grandparents to insert themselves directly between adult child and
grandchild. However, family members and others who share a common cultural
tradition may all benefit even more through expanded ways of handing down
their knowledge and wise counsel to other generations. This may partly come in
the form of increased financial literacy for grandparents, and better strategies for
opening this conversation directly with their children and grandchildren.
Cultural distinctions do exist among the grandparent groups surveyed. Some of
these may be from deeply ingrained traditions about the place of grandparents
within the larger family context. There are some cultural differences in how
directly grandparents demonstrate their influence and direct involvement with
their adult children and grandchildren. Nevertheless, they are almost universally
consistent in the basic values of respect and appreciation of traditions, customs,
and beliefs they pass along to succeeding generations, and the important
aspects of personal character such as honesty, good behavior, education, health,
and self-sufficiency which they seek to instill in them as well. Since many grandparents feel that they are not well-informed about financial issues, better
financial information and literacy could make them ambassadors of important
financial information. The entire community could benefit from enhancing
and expanding the opportunities for grandparents to extend their caring and
generosity to their own families and beyond.
17
> From Generation to Generation
Methodology
The survey was conducted via telephone between February and March 2010,
by Frank N. Magid Associates, Inc. The survey included grandparents age 45+
with grandchildren age 25 or younger. The sample was comprised of 200
African-American grandparents, 200 Asian Indian grandparents, and 201
Chinese grandparents. Interviews were conducted in English, as well as
Mandarin and Cantonese for the Chinese respondents. Data were weighted
to be representative of African-American, Asian Indian, and Chinese adults
age 45+ within the U.S. population.
18
Demographics
Gender
Male
Female
Total
Chinese
Asian Indians
AfricanAmericans
49%
51%
48%
52%
53%
47%
47%
53%
7%
34%
59%
62.3
4%
32%
64%
63.1
3%
34%
63%
63.0
14%
37%
49%
60.9
71%
14%
5%
4%
1%
81%
13%
