In the last post we explored the makeup of family households in the seven county region. For this post, we will break that information down even further and look at how many households in the area are led by grandparents who assume responsibility for their grandchildren that are younger than the age of 18.  In some communities more than 4 percent of the households with children are headed by grandparents.  In Detroit, there are neighborhoods where this number reaches more than 12 percent.

The overall percentage of grandparents responsible for children can be seen in the first three maps, the third focusing on Detroit.  Several communities in Wayne County, like Detroit, Inkster, Romulus and Taylor, have high percentages of grandparent led households. There is also a cluster in Northern Macomb and St. Clair counties. In that area there are eight communities where more than 4 percent of the grandparent population is responsible for their grandchildren; there are 24 total communities where more than 4 percent of the grandparent population is responsible for their grandchildren.

The third map though shows that on a Census tract level, there are about 25 neighborhoods in the city where more than 12 percent of the grandparent population is responsible for their grandchildren.

According to the data, about 7.1 percent of Detroit’s population is made up of grandparents, and of that population over 4 percent are responsible for their grandchildren. The fourth through sixth maps show the overall distribution of grandparents in Southeast Michigan, whether they are responsible for their grandchildren or not, are heavily concentrated in and around the City of Detroit.  Although Detroit has the highest concentration of the dark grey and red colors concentrated within its boundaries,  these colors also bleed out into the outer ring suburbs of Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties.