Abstract
The aim of this book is to bring together evidence from around the world, from different disciplines and different types of research, to give a comprehensive account of grandfathers: their cultural roles and expectations, their involvement with children, and the importance of grandfathering for health and well-being. Although there is a growing literature on grandparents, in academic literature grandfathers have remained in the shadows of grandmothers. The traditional prominence of women in care work partly explains this, although many men are already very active grandparents, and cultural and demographic change suggests that their contribution will continue to increase in the future. Just as there are ‘new’ fathers, there are ‘new’ grandfathers who reshape the traditional boundaries of men’s involvement in family life.
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Buchanan, A., Rotkirch, A. (2016). Introduction. In: Buchanan, A., Rotkirch, A. (eds) Grandfathers. Palgrave Macmillan Studies in Family and Intimate Life. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56338-5_1
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