“Who Cares Best for the Child?” Grandmothers’ Interactions with Mothers in Childcare

Childcare is regarded as a family business in Turkey, especially due to the lack of public services and the political discourses around ‘familialism.’ Childcare responsibilities create a major obstacle for women, resulting in very low female economic participation in the country. In this context, grandmothers are usually asked to step into the role of caregiver for their grandchildren to support their daughters’ and daughters-in-law’s participation in the workforce. Yet, contemporary mothers have a drastically different approach to childrearing compared to their own mothers or mothers-in-law. This study explores how these intergenerational differences in childrearing ideals and practices play into the childcare experiences by examining qualitative data derived from in-depth semi-structured interviews with 20 older grandmothers who were caring for their grandchildren under the age of six. The findings revealed that the grandmother-mother interactions on childcare tasks and childrearing methods fall into three categories: mothers knowing best, complete trust in grandmothers, and conflictual relationships. This study shows how intergenerational differences regarding childrearing can create conflict between mothers and grandmothers, and thus complicating childcare arrangements. Therefore, social policies should consider that childcare arrangements involve multiple actors with potentially different ideas about what is best for the child’s well-being.