The exact number of grandparents providing care to their grandchildren is not known precisely.
But many surveys have shown that this number could be quite large.
The US Census Bureau reported that 23 percent of children under the age of 5 are cared for by grandparents; 34 percent of children who live only with dads are looked after by grandparents; and 38 percent of the Hispanic preschoolers are cared for grandparents.
The Gerontologist is a journal which gives us more information on grandparents providing childcare.
In a study published in the 2001 edition of the magazine reported that the number of hours grandparents take care of the grandchildren in a week varies from one family to another.
About 24 percent of grandparents take care of their grandchildren for 10 to 29 hours a week, while nearly 7 percent take care of grandchildren for 30 hours a week.
These grandparents are healthy and are responsible for being caregivers to children who are not attending the school.
However, most grandparents babysit or offer to babysit due to their love for their grandchildren.
Some do it to help their own children because the children might not have the time or means to take care of the grandchildren.
And, some do it because they know that grandchildren need a loving person to care for them and look after them.
Most grandparents who take care of children are also working themselves.
This can be quite taxing for them as after a full time job, they come home to take care of grandchildren in the nights and at the weekends.
Grandparents taking care of the grandchildren have many benefits.
They can build a strong relation with their grandchildren.
The children, in turn, will have a reliable and responsible adult to take care of them, and someone they can turn to at the time of need.
Grandparents end up providing a stable and loving home environment which otherwise would not have been the case.