Abstract
Grandparenting is a dynamic family practice that varies over time and between cultural contexts, and is shaped by material and structural factors such as social class, demographic change, and the welfare state context. Gender norms exert a strong influence on grandparenting practices and their negotiation across the dyadic grandparent-grandchild relationship and the triad of grandparent–adult child–grandchild. Cultural norms and expectations associated with grandparenting may be in conflict, and grandparents use agency to negotiate the balance between norms of ‘being there’ (to assist), ‘not interfering’, and drawing boundaries around their involvement in the lives of younger family generations.