Many American grandparents today, far from living carefree retirements, are stepping into intense caregiving roles due to soaring childcare costs and limited social support systems.

While some relish the opportunity to bond with grandchildren, many—especially grandmothers—find themselves sacrificing personal goals, finances and rest in a system that increasingly relies on their unpaid labor.

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with our grandmothers,” says Madonna Harrington Meyer, University Professor and author of Grandmothers at Work. “But I think there’s plenty wrong with our welfare state.”

This shift underscores a broader societal failure, where the burden of care is falling heavily on families, straining relationships and personal well-being across generations.

While doing research in Sweden—where the government significantly subsidizes child care—Merril Silverstein, Marjorie Cantor Endowed Professor of Aging Studies, expected to find that family would be somewhat less important to people. Instead, he found that, compared with what he was used in the U.S., kin relationships seemed to be especially warm and sweet. “Once you take the burden of care away from the family,” he says, “people can engage in a much more emotionally satisfying way.”

Read more in The Atlantic article, “Grandparents Are Reaching Their Limit.”