Grandparents Are Covering the Hours and the Cash
AARP's 2026 survey of 3,283 U.S. grandparents finds those who help average more than 500 hours a year, and spending averages $2,654 once grandparents who spent nothing are included. AAPI grandparents are the group most likely to be there almost every day.
The Tuesday pickup is already on her calendar. The household budget often leaves those hours out.
Sarah Kerman at AARP Research, writing with Layne Amerikaner and Angela Houghton, put numbers on that week. Their study, Powering Families, surveyed 3,283 U.S. grandparents age 35 and older from November 18 to December 22, 2025.
Seven in ten (69%) provide some care for grandchildren. Among those who do, the average is more than 500 hours a year, close to 10 hours a week.
Fifteen percent are there daily or almost every day.
AAPI grandparents are the group most likely to say the care is daily or almost daily.
The survey included 475 of them and was offered in Mandarin. AARP published the ranking. The share for that group is missing from the public write-up.
The help relatives call love often has a pickup time and a dollar amount. Say both out loud before the year locks in.
Why they say they show up
A parent's job is the reason grandparents name most often. Thirty-eight percent said they provide care because of work or other duties. Thirty-five percent said they want the time together.
Passing something on is the smaller reason, and it is more common among immigrants. Nine percent of grandparents named values, guidance, or mentorship. Among grandparents who immigrated, 17% did.
If the help is already daily, ask whether it is a standing shift or a favor that grew.
The cash is real, and it buys less than in 2018
Nine in ten grandparents spent money on grandchildren in the past year. The average, counting grandparents who spent nothing, is $2,654.
AARP's press office set that next to a month of Social Security. The average retirement benefit they cited is $2,071.
The national cash total is about $172 billion: roughly 65 million grandparents times that average spend.
Unpaid care is the larger number. AARP prices the hours at $22.15, a national childcare wage from November 2025, and gets about $731 billion. Cash plus care is about $903 billion.
The check looks a little bigger than 2018 and stretches less. Average spending was $2,562 then. AARP says that older amount would be about $3,240 now.
If a grandparent is covering camp, groceries, or a tuition slice, put that number next to the gift.
Joy and strain show up in the same house
Twenty-eight percent lived with a grandchild at some point in the past year. Eleven percent do now.
AARP reports higher joy in those homes, and more strain.
Asked about the care itself, the answers split.
Fifty-nine percent say it energizes them. Thirteen percent say it leaves them physically taxed. Twenty-six percent say both are true.
Before the year locks in, ask three things.
Which hours are a gift, and which hours does the household need. What money is a gift, and what bill is it covering. Who takes the week she is sick, away, or finished.
Write the answers where both of you can see them.