Psychologists in Spain use the term "enslaved grandparent syndrome" to describe the heavy childcare burden on older people, with 35% of over‑65s in Spain caring for grandchildren several days a week. Southern European countries show much higher rates than France (13%), Germany (15%) and the UK (18%). Historical cultural norms of shared generational care sustain these practices, but many grandparents now experience exhaustion and resentment after years of work and childrearing. Parents report frustration at inconsistent grandparental involvement, while online forums and memes reflect tensions between perceived entitlement and grandparents pushing back against unpaid caregiving expectations.
Enslaved grandparent syndrome sounds extreme, doesn't it? But that's what some psychologists in Spain are calling the childcare burden faced by older people in that country, where 35% of people over the age of 65 take care of their grandchildren several days a week. In my London neighbourhood, the sight of a grandparent pushing a baby in a buggy, or a toddler in a swing, is fairly common, but in Madrid, even more so.
Anyone who lurks on parenting internet forums will observe that these faultlines are emerging across the western world, with some parents saddened and frustrated at the lack of input or interest from grandparents (they'd rather spend their money on cruises!) and, on the other side, grandparents worn down and exhausted by the expectation, and sometimes entitlement, levied upon them by their children.
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