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Intersections Of Poverty, Geography, And Custodial Grandparent Caregiving In Appalachia, Deborah L. Phillips, Ben Alexander-Eitzman

GrandFamilies: The Contemporary Journal of Research, Practice and Policy

The purpose of this study is to compare the incidence of custodial grandparenting in Central Appalachia to other areas in Appalachia and the rest of the U.S., to explore how recent economic changes have affected poverty rates of custodial grandparents in all of these areas, and to explore what influences the probability of custodial grandparenting. We hypothesize that the recent economic upheaval of the Great Recession has pressured many families to rely on grandparents to provide care for their grandchildren and that these trends are particularly evident in the Appalachian region due to longstanding historical trends and unique cultural factors. …