The Dutch Research Council (NWO) has awarded Veni funding for the project of POPNET Fellow Vera de Bel “The more the merrier? The role of step-grandparents in complex family networks”. The project will utilize register data, also used in the POPNET project, documenting the kinship networks of the Dutch population. It examines to what extent having step-grandparents can be a benefit or a burden for the younger generations.
The more the merrier? The role of step-grandparents in complex family networks.
In the 1990s, the Netherlands experienced a peak in divorces. Now, 30 years later, divorced parents have often found new partners, and their adult children have established their own families. As a result, families can now consist of four biological grandparents and additional step-grandparents, potentially resulting in “eight-grandparent families”. By utilizing registers that document the kinship networks of the Dutch population, it is examined to what extent having step-grandparents can be a benefit or a burden for the younger generations. Additionally, new data is collected about step-grandparent relationships to understand under what conditions relationships with step-grandparents can thrive.