More than half of grandparents feel distant from their grandchildren, survey finds

Gabriella Swerling
·2 min read
Portrait of a small boy with his grandfather
The survey was carried out by The Pulse Business and polled around 11,000 UK grandparents - Thanasis Zovoilis

More than half of grandparents feel distant from their grandchildren, a survey has found.

In a poll of around 11,000 UK grandparents, 53 per cent said that they felt distant from events in their grandchildren’s lives.

The survey also showed that, for many, this translated to feelings of loneliness, with 39 per cent of grandparents saying that they feel lonely due to a lack of connection with their family or grandchildren.

However, researchers also found that the majority of grandparents are becoming more tech-literate to combat this. For example, 87 per cent of grandparents said that photo and connection apps on their smart devices have a positive impact on their relationships and connections with their family, with 57 per cent claiming that these reduce loneliness.

The survey was carried out by The Pulse Business, a data collection company, and commissioned by BackThen.

Two girls and grandfather reading book in living room
39 per cent of grandparents saying that they feel lonely due to a lack of connection with their family or grandchildren - Westend61

Responding to the findings, Ed Botterill, founder and director of BackThen, a private family app for childhood memories, said: “It’s a strange thing, how the world keeps getting smaller, and yet it gets harder for different generations to see each other.

“Grandparents deserve to see children grow up – and it’s those authentic moments of love that form the milestones of a child’s journey. Not to mention the joy and mischief that they can celebrate together.

“It’s sad that grandparents are feeling increasingly cut off from their families. But while there’s no replacement for real interaction, it’s interesting to see how they are embracing tech to help them to keep in touch, and that it seems to be staving off their feelings of loneliness.”

According to the charity, Age UK, 1.4 million older people in the UK are often lonely.

This also comes amid rising costs of childcare and as working parents rely on grandparents to act as unpaid carers for their children.

Separate data from Age UK show that women are nearly three times more likely to have retired from work to provide care for a family member (14 per cent of female early retirees, compared with 5 per cent of men).