Health Characteristics of Solo Grandparent Caregivers and Single Parents: A Comparative Profile Using the Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance Survey

Table 1

Solo grandparents and single parents: family demographic characteristics.

Grandparent’s/single parent’s demographic indicators	Solo grandparents; %	Single parents; %	value
Gender
Male	23.7%	20.4%	0.05
Female	76.3%	79.6%
Age
18–39	1.4%	48.3%	<0.001
40s	8.3%	35.2%
50s	29.6%	14.5%
60s	32.5%	1.7%
70s	23.8%	0.2%
80s	4.4%	0.1%
Race
White, non-Hispanic	51.8%	50.5%	<0.001
Black, non-Hispanic	31.2%	24.5%
Hispanic	9.0%	18.8%
Other races, non-Hispanic	8.0%	6.3%
Education
Did not graduate from high school	31.2%	14.7%	<0.001
Graduated from high school	68.8%	85.3%
Income categories
<$15,000	27.8%	20.2%	<0.001
$15,000–$24,999	36.4%	23.9%
$25,000–$49,999	20.8%	24.6%
$50,000–$74,999	7.3%	13.0%
$75,000 or more	7.7%	18.3%
MSA Code
In the center city of MSA	43.5%	42%	<0.001
Outside center city of MSA	22.3%	26%
Inside a suburban county of MSA	12.7%	13%
In MSA with no center city	0.2%	1.1%
Not in MSA	21.4%	15.6%
Number of children in household
1	61.9%	42.8%	<0.001
2	28.3%	35.4%
3	7.3%	14.4%
4	1.5%	5.1%
5+	0.9%	2.3%
Gender of grandchild
Boy	51.0%	51.1%	0.98
Girl	49.0%	48.9%
Age of grandchild
<5 years	10.5%	12.9%	0.07
5–12 years	41.6%	43.8%
13–18 years	47.8%	43.3%