A growing number of Canadian grandparents are caregivers of their grandchildren. And most of these caregivers are single females with limited incomes. Toronto Star, Aug. 3, 2014
Margaret Claus often has a child’s flower hair clip pinned to her silver hair or a homemade elastic bracelet around her wrist.
That’s because the 77-year-old widow has been raising her great-granddaughter, Ellie, since the child was born 10 years ago.
“We are so busy running with kids that we don’t have the chance to age,” says Claus of older people like her in split-generation families.
“I feel like I stopped aging when I got Ellie,” adds Claus, who lives in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, near Belleville, Ont., and who adopted her great-granddaughter when she was 2. “My body got older; my mind didn’t.”
Claus is among the growing number of Canadian grandparents and great-grandparents raising their kids’ children or their grandchildren’s kids. According to Cangrands, a non-profit organization that provides support to “caregiver families,” some 62,500 children are being raised by kin in Canada, mainly a grandmother or aunt.