The Pluralization of Resources for Balancing Working and Family Lives and Grandparents Childcare in Spain

In recent years, grandparental childcare has been instrumental to Spanish parents’ ability to engage in paid work. At the same time, the use of formal childcare services and parental leave-taking have also intensified. This study aimed to identify the factors associated with daily grandparental childcare. The sample covered the 2 304 parents with at least one child under 13 interviewed on the occasion of the Survey on the use of parental leave in Spain, 2012. Two types of factors were analysed: (1) individual characteristics; and (2) prevailing circumstances. The findings showed that families with higher incomes resorted less frequently to grandparental childcare. In contrast, such care was an essential resource when both parents were unemployed and for lone-parent families. In two-parent families, formal childcare services, paid domestic work and parental leaves were associated with less frequent grandparental involvement in childcare. Overall, the findings suggest that more diversified deployment of the available resources may contribute to reducing grandparental childcare.