New research has revealed the age at which the majority of children lose touch with their grandparents and therefore begin to miss out on the many benefits a close relationship can offer - and it happens to more grandkids than you'd think.
Grandparents are a vital pillar of the family tree. For many parents, they offer practical support with childcare, with more than half of grandparents saying they look after their grandchildren while their parents are at work due to the soaring cost of raising a child and unaffordable average childcare costs.
But their appearances in their grandkids' lives are also important emotionally, with research showing that children who have a good relationship with their grandparents have less behavioural and emotional problems - and that's not to mention the good habits and life lessons many grandparents impart on the younger generations.
But for all the good they bring, sometimes life simply gets in the way of the grandparent/grandchild relationship. And it happens more than you think.
New research conducted by Railcard.co.uk has now revealed that a whopping 70% of grandchildren begin to lose their all-important connection with their grandparents by the time they turn 16.
After the initial connection begins to dwindle in teenagehood, the research found that those aged 18-30 tend to only visit their grandparent or grandparents once every seven months. That's a huge deviation from the recommended monthly visit that has been proven to help grandparents live longer.
But there's an understandable reason for this. According to the research, those who see their grandparents less than twice a year blame the physical distance between them, with people, on average, living a two hour-long journey from their grandparents which is a distance that's hard to travel with all the demands of work, social, and family life.
There is a guilt around this lack of contact, though. 77% of the research participants said they would like to make more time to visit their grandparents this year. There can be selfish reasons for this wish to connect. Lots of research, data and statistics show that spending time with a grandparent can have massive benefits for grandchildren, just one example being the life lessons and skills grandparents can teach their grandchildren - and grandparents say they learn lots from their grandkids too.
The research found that many wish to see their grandparents so they can find out more about their family's heritage, as well as to get them to help them learn a new skill such as knitting, crocheting or gardening. But others simply wish to be around their grandparents as they make them feel comforted, offer good advice, and share brilliant, captivating stories from when they were young.
So how can grandchildren better connect with their grandparents as they grow older? There are plenty of tips for building relationships with ‘estranged’ grandparents and, if you're a grandparent who wants to be closer to your grandkids, these 6 tips recommended by a psychologist should be a great starting point to build a stronger relationship. And if you or your grandchildren travel to meet each other, these 25 teen conversation starters are sure to get some good conversations flowing.
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