According to one survey of millennials, more than half said their parents helped out around the house in a typical week; the average
got 24 hours of childcare a week, from babysitting to chauffeuring the kids, and an additional 21 hours of cooking and cleaning.
Over and over grandparents have whispered to me, “Don’t use our name,
but we bought their house” or “We pay their rent.” I know a couple who moved out of their rent-stabilized apartment so that their daughter and new baby could move in.
Grandbabies: The Great Reward for Aging -
By LESLEY STAHLMAY 13, 2017
Happy Mother’s Day to all us grandmothers, we band of lovesick indulgers whose
ability to say no seems to be disabled the day our grandbabies are born.
And my generation is spending more money on our grandchildren, 64 percent more than grandparents did just 10
years ago, doling out, for instance, roughly $4.3 billion a year on primary and secondary school tuition.
We’re also spending on everyday needs like baby food, clothes
and tricycles as well as big-ticket items like the crib, the stroller, a piano (that was me).
One reason we pioneers have become the family piggy bank is a generational inversion: It used to be
that the middle-aged took care of their elderly parents; more and more it’s the other way round.