According to the study commissioned by Fórum da Criança, whose findings were unveiled at the Kids & Teens seminar earlier this week in Lisbon, found that grandparents assume a “primordial role” in the day-to-day life of Portuguese families and are mostly present in the daily routine of grandchildren.
Researchers also spoke to parents, with 72 percent saying grandparents were their primary partners in the education of their children, revealing them to be present in their studies, extracurricular activities and even in the use of digital communication.
But it is not only in these areas where grandparents play a vital role, more than half of parents (56 percent) said much of their clothes and shoes are usually bought by grandparents.
The comprehensive study, which was initiated in 2005 and has since monitored the habits of 6,000 children and 1,700 parents, in 2014 opted to include grandparents in research.
“With the onset of the financial crisis, we have noticed a marked change in the habits of families with grandparents taking on a more relevant role within the family”, Leonor Archer of Brandkey who is promoting the seventh study on the matter, was quoted as telling the Lusa News Agency this week.
“They serve as a fundamental support base for parents and a have a functional role in the raising of grandchildren while also having strong links” Ms Archer added.
The study also highlights the influence exerted by television, internet and mobile phones on the lives of children. Three-quarters of children said they had access to the internet, with 90 percent of these saying they did so from home.
More than half (52 percent) of children have Facebook accounts, mostly to play games and interact with friends, while six out of ten have mobile phones. This number rises to eight out of ten for children the final four years of school.