In 1970, Marian McQuade began a campaign to establish a day to honor grandparents. But such a day was not formally established until 1978 when President Jimmy Carter signed a federal proclamation, approving the first Sunday after Labor Day as National Grandparents Day.

Since Sept. 9, 1979, it has been celebrated every year in honor of our nation’s grandparents with whom one in 10 of all children in the U.S. live.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 7 million people had grandchildren younger than 18 were living with them in 2010. The number of grandparents responsible for the basic needs of one or more grandchildren under 18 living with them in 2010 was 2.7 million. Of these caregivers, 1.7 million were grandmothers and 1 million were grandfathers.