Staying in Contact with Grandchildren: The Role of Geographic Distance, Borders, and Communication Technologies

Martin Piotrowski, University of Oklahoma
Weronika Kloc-Nowak , University of Warsaw
Sylwia Timoszuk , Warsaw School of Economics

This paper contributes to research on the patterns of grandparents’ contact with grandchildren. Specifically, we analyze (1) how geographic distance affects both face-to-face meetings and remote communication frequencies and (2) how this contact is mediated by modern communications technology used by members of the grandparental generation. We also identify the specific effect of having grandchildren abroad, compared to having them at a greater distance within the same country. The research is original in several ways. Firstly, it is based on primary data from a national survey designed by the authors specifically to collect comprehensive information on grandparenting among women and men aged 50+ living in Poland. The data collection took place in late 2019 / early 2020 and included 1,000 respondents. Secondly, the survey allowed us to obtain unique data on grandparents’ adaptation to spatial mobility, since the interviews were conducted with grandparents whose grandchildren live in proximity, in distant locations or abroad – a highly novel approach within the current state-of-art in the research of grandparents. Thirdly, it gathered data on both young and adult grandchildren and detailed data on randomly selected grandchildren of our respondents. Our multinomial logistic regression models show that, generally, regular (once per week or more) in-person contact is most likely with local grandchildren and increasingly less likely for grandchildren living at a distance and abroad. However, remote contact with non-local grandchildren is more likely. Moreover, grandparents’ use of technology increases the probability of high-frequency remote contact for local grandchildren and those living abroad.

See extended abstract

 Presented in Session 64. Flash Session: International and Internal Mobility