Center for Investigative Reporting

The number of U.S. children living with at least one grandparent in their homes increased 64 percent between 1991 and 2009, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report released yesterday.

There were 7.8 million children living with at least one grandparent in 2009, up from 4.7 million in 1991. Such family arrangements were most common among black and Hispanic children but have risen most substantially among white children. 

In 2009, 17 percent of black children and 14 percent of Hispanic children lived with a grandparent – just slightly higher than in 1991. Among white children, however, the percentage living with a grandparent increased from 5 percent to 9 percent. The number of children living with at least one grandparent in 2009 represented 10.5 percent of all kids in the U.S.