Grandparenting in Australia: A Multidisciplinary Symposium

Major social, cultural and economic shifts have transformed intergenerational interdependency since the postwar period, including longer and healthier lives; new and different forms of relationships and care, gender roles and identities, and family constellations beyond the nuclear and heteronormative family; intensified mobility and communication technologies; the gradual dismantling of the welfare state; and growing concerns over climate change, pandemics and unsustainable economic models. As part of the ARC Discovery Project Grandparenting in Australia: a history (1945-2025) (DP250100728) this one-day multidisciplinary workshop brings together scholars across Australia to discuss the history and present day experiences of grandparenting in Australia. The symposium aims to contribute to a new understanding of grandparenting in public and academic discourse, beyond the sentimental trope of the elderly and caring grandparent, to reveal complex family dynamics. Communication technologies and social media have been transforming transnational grandparenting. Despite the persisting prevalence of grandmothers’ childcare, a gradual shift towards ‘involved grandfathering’ is becoming apparent, as shaped by new conceptions of masculinity. While the intergenerational, cultural and linguistic gaps between grandparents and grandchildren may still be a source of misunderstandings and conflicts, grandparents may also be supportive of their grandchildren’s new ideas (or transformed by them), for instance around gender roles and sexual orientations. The increasing cost of social services, including childcare, and the unaffordability of housing is also compelling new familial care arrangements and a resurgence in multigenerational households. Some play a vital role as an intermediary between generations of parents and their children. These are just some of the many instances of social and cultural shifts that have been reshaping grandparenting, and will be addressed and discussed during the symposium.