“A New Job after Retirement”: Negotiating Grandparenting and Intergenerational Relationships in Urban China

Based on interviews with 120 adult only children and their parents in urban Tianjin, this article shows how grandparenting becomes a crucial site for the intergenerational negotiation around childcare, family obligations, unfulfilled aspirations individualisation. While child couples rely heavily lot of tensions are involved process. Although grandparents do not always willingly embrace heavy burden concern about elderly care sometimes compels them to nevertheless take up work. Through providing nuanced picture China, seeks reveal changing ideas obligation responsibility, as well social transformation China that underpins such change. It argues individualisation process is far from finished, reality pulling people back solve problems within family.