Personality Traits and Provision of Grandparental Childcare: Evidence from Europe

Past research has explored various factors associated with grandparental childcare but has overlooked the role of personality traits. We address this gap by analyzing the association between personality traits and grandparental childcare using data from the Survey of Health and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). In SHARE, personality traits were measured for the first time in wave 7, and in wave 8, they were collected only from individuals who did not report them in wave 7. We pool observations from waves 7 and 8 (N = 13,441 individuals). We find that four personality traits–openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreeableness–are significantly associated with higher provision of grandchild care. Additionally, conscientiousness–and, to a lesser extent, neuroticism–is associated with a higher likelihood of providing care on at least a weekly basis. These findings underscore the role of personality in grandparental caregiving and may have methodological implications for assessing the effects of grandchild care on health and wellbeing.