{"id":13260,"date":"2015-09-11T09:00:11","date_gmt":"2015-09-11T14:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/on-grandparents-day-will-you-call-text-or-write\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:19:16","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:19:16","slug":"on-grandparents-day-will-you-call-text-or-write","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2015\/09\/11\/on-grandparents-day-will-you-call-text-or-write\/","title":{"rendered":"On Grandparents Day, will you call, text or write?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Congress designated the first Sunday after Labor Day as National Grandparents Day<\/a> back in 1978. Jimmy Carter, who was president at the time,\u00a0spoke about<\/a> the importance of grandparents, praising them for their \u201csacrifices that produced much of the progress and comfort we enjoy today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

With the day coming up this Sunday, it\u2019s a good time to look at how often and by what means Americans keep in touch with the eldest members of their families.<\/p>\n\n

\"Keeping<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

Among U.S. adults who have at least one living grandparent, 64% say they are in touch with grandparents at least on a monthly basis, including 36% who say they keep in touch with their grandparents at least monthly (but not weekly) and 28% who do so weekly or daily<\/span>, according to a 2014 Pew Research Center survey<\/a>. But some adults rarely communicate with their grandparents: 35% of adults with a living grandparent say they communicate less often than monthly, including 2% who say they are never in contact with their grandparents.<\/p>\n\n

Phone calls are the most popular mode of communication between adult grandchildren and their grandparents. About nine-in-ten (92%) of those who are in contact with their grandparents at least monthly say they use the phone. Still, about a third (32%) rely on at least one of the newer forms of technology such as text messages, social media or email.<\/p>\n\n

One-in-five adults who are in touch with a grandparent at least monthly opt for texting their grandparents; about one-in-six (16%) cite using social media sites, like Facebook or Twitter; and 12% say they keep in touch with their grandparents via email.<\/p>\n\n

While many adults rely on technology to stay in touch with their grandparents, pen and paper are not completely obsolete. In fact, the share of adults (12%) who typically communicate with their grandparents by writing a letter is equal to the share that stay in touch through emails.<\/p>\n\n

Grandparents report more frequent contact with their grandchildren than grandchildren do with their grandparents. Some 20% of grandparents with at least one grandchild\u00a0of any age (with whom they do not live) say they communicate with their grandchildren at least every day, while 41% say they do so weekly.<\/p>\n\n

Although older Americans<\/a> tend to adopt technology later than younger adults, grandparents and grandchildren report using similar forms of communication to stay in touch. About eight-in-ten (79%) American grandparents who are in touch with their grandchildren of any age at least once a month say they keep in touch with their grandchildren via phone calls. Text messages are used by a quarter of grandparents who communicate with their grandchildren of any age at least monthly, while 16% use email and 13% connect on social media.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With Grandparents Day coming up this Sunday, it\u2019s a good time to look at how often and by what means Americans keep in touch with the eldest members of their families.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"sub_headline":null,"sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"relatedPosts":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[]},"categories":[204,275,31],"bylines":[940],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[467],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[515],"research-teams":[526,519],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-13260","short-read","type-short-read","status-publish","hentry","category-comparison-of-generations","category-digital-news-landscape-2","category-family-relationships","bylines-monica-anderson","formats-short-read","regions-countries-united-states","research-teams-internet","research-teams-social-trends"],"label":"Short 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