A 67-year-old retired schoolteacher from Idaho moved across the US to Delaware after her daughter decided to have a second child despite the high cost of childcare. Mary Jo Galusha retired from teaching and drove cross-country in her red Volkswagen Beetle to help her daughter, Stacia Bourne, and her family, WTJX NewsFeed reported.
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Bourne, a University of Delaware psychology professor who lives in Maryland, and her husband had been worried about the cost of raising another child. Their first child, George, was born in 2020 and started daycare at the age of two. "The cost for childcare for him is about the same as our mortgage," Bourne said.
The couple had been discussing whether they could afford a second child when Galusha offered to help. She told her daughter that if they decided to have another baby, she would retire and move from Idaho to the East Coast to provide childcare.
Several months later, Galusha received the call that Bourne was expecting. "I got a call that Stacia was expecting and that I better start planning on retiring," Galusha recalled with a laugh. She then retired from her job as a schoolteacher, packed her belongings and made the long drive to Delaware.
Galusha, who is now the grandmother of five, lives in Newark, Delaware. Her granddaughter Robin was born in late 2024 and spends about 30 hours a week in Galusha's care while her parents work. Galusha has also replaced her Volkswagen Beetle with an SUV so that two car seats can fit more easily in the back row. "It's a joy," Galusha said. "It's like magic to watch them grow up."
Rising costs push families to grandparents
Galusha's decision comes as more families in the US are relying on grandparents for childcare. Grandparents have always helped look after grandchildren, but rising childcare costs have made that support more important for families who cannot easily afford daycare.
According to Child Care Aware of America, the average annual cost of childcare for children under five in the US was $13,184 in 2025. In some cases, childcare costs can be close to the cost of rent or college tuition.
Nicole Jorwic, chief programme officer at Caring Across Generations, said families are turning to older relatives because of gaps in the childcare system.
"The reality is that because this country hasn't invested in a childcare infrastructure that is flexible and affordable and reliable, grandparents are filling in the gaps that the service system leaves behind," she said.
Madonna Harrington Meyer, a Syracuse University sociology professor who studies ageing and grandparenting, said several factors have increased the need for childcare. More households now have both parents working full-time, while the number of single mothers has also increased over the decades.
Families raising children with disabilities can face another challenge because they may need childcare providers who can offer specialised care. "All of these things are reasons people turn to grandparents," Harrington Meyer said.
Millions of grandparents provide regular care
Galusha is one of millions of grandparents who help care for grandchildren. One poll found that nearly half of respondents with grandchildren under 18 looked after them at least once every few months.
An AARP report from June found that the main reasons grandparents provide childcare include parents being busy or working and grandparents wanting to spend time with their grandchildren.
The median amount of time grandparents spent caring for grandchildren, excluding those who are primary caregivers or provide no care, was 200 hours a year, or about 3.8 hours a week, according to the data.
