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More and More Grandparents are becoming primary care givers, according to research from the University of Chicago.

A National Institute on Aging Survey, shows that 60 percent of grandparents provide some care for their grandchildren during a 10-year period of time and 70 percent were reported to have offered care for two years or more.

A press report published by the University of Chicago revealed that the findings were based on one of the most comprehensive surveys done on grandparenting: the 1998-2008 Health and Retirement Study supported by the National Institute on Aging. The study interviewed 13,614 grandparents, aged 50 and older, at two-year intervals over the period to determine their level of care-giving.

The results in both the survey and the study mirror data gathered from the 2010 United State Census, which reported 8 percent (6.4 million) of children living with their grandparents, up from 4.7 million in 2005.

Moreover ,grandparents are the primary source of child care for 30 percent of mothers who work and have children under the age of five, the Census survey showed and 2.7 million grandparents are responsible for the needs of their grandchildren.

"Our findings show that different groups of grandparents are likely to provide different types of care. Importantly grandparents with less income and less education, or who are from minority groups, are more likely to take on care for their grandchildren," said Linda Waite, the Lucy Flower Professor in Sociology at UChicago and an expert on aging.

However, the study qualified this by adding that most grandparents, regarless of race or socioeconomic status provided some kind of care for their grandchildren.