How unusual is it to have all four grandparents alive?

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A friend of mine is 31 and has all four of her grandparents. They’re all in their late 80s. I said to her that must be quite rare but she said she’d never thought of it like that.

A friend is 60 and has her and husband parents living so her kids have grown up knowing all their grandparents. Mine only knew my dad.

I'm mid 30s

I had 4 great grandparents until I was 10ish and have all 4 grandparents now- I’m 34.

Yes it's rare. I don't think I have ever met/known anyone who has all 4 grandparents alive. I guess some people must have, and probably some people did when I was at school - and much younger/in my 20s. But most people I know don't have all 4 grandparents still alive. As I said though, some children/ teenagers probably do.

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I've got all of mine and in mid 30s.

I think it's rare. My paternal grandfather died before I was born but I had 3 grandparents alive until I was 38 which friends said was unusual.

I was thinking the other day that I'm the only one of my friends to have both parents alive (late 40's/ early 50's)

My grandparents died in 1967, 1978, 1982 and 2004. So, almost 40 years between the first and the last to die, yet they were all born between 1898 and 1907.

My mother died when I was ten but I had my four grandparents until adulthood.

I think it's rare too.
One grandfather died before I was born and my grandmother when I was just a toddler (they were dad's parents).
My maternal grandfather died when I was 19 and my maternal grandmother is still going strong in her eighties.
My dad is a bit older than my mam though, so he was older when I was born. None of my grandparents died particularly young. All in at least their late seventies.

I only had two grandparents left when I was born. Then lost the two in my teens.

I had a great grandfather till I was 9, so happy I got to meet him. His daughter, my grandmother, lived until I was 42. I was lucky to have her as she outlived my mum, her daughter, by ten years. I also had a full set of grandparents until I was 15, so very lucky overall.

Wow, very rare! Neither DH nor I had all four when we were born. DCs - the eldest as nearly 20 when he lost his first grandparent.

Looking at wider family, few had more than 2 grandparents by 30.

I did until I was 35; they started their families in their mid 20s (ie no teen pregnancies) but I was the eldest grandchild and all four lived into their 90s. All non smokers, slim, fit and with active social lives until the last few weeks of their respective lives.

Sadly that doesn’t necessarily mean I have great genes as my dad pre deceased all of them and my mum only lived a year longer than her mum 😢

Oh and I also had three great grandparents alive when I was born! The last of the gg passed away when I was 10.

I had all four grandparents until my mid 20s..I had 2 great grandmothers until my late teens (one died at 101, one at 103!)

My children (late teens/early 20s) had all four grandparents until 2 years ago when my MIL died very suddenly.

It's more common in WC families I think as people tend to have children when they're younger

My grandad on dad's side died when I was 10, he was in his 60s. Grandma on mum's side died aged 67 when I was 16. Other grandad died when I was 20 and he was 73. My other grandma died when I was 38 and she was 92. Both my parents were the eldest child in their families.

I also remember having one great-grandad when I was very small, he was very old and died when I was 5 or 6. He was the father of my longest-lived grandma so long lives seem to be a feature on that side of the family.

My children are teens and have 2 grandparents left - my parents. DH's parents both died about 2 years ago in their late 80s/early 90s (DH was the youngest child in a fairly large family and didn't have his own children until age 40+). My eldest DC was able to meet his then-91 year old great-grandma when he was a baby but obviously doesn't remember anything about it.

Quite rare I think. I had only my maternal grandparents until I was 40ish, my paternal grandparents died in concentration camps in WW2.

DH had his maternal grandparents until he was 40ish too. His paternal grandfather died before he was born and his paternal grandmother when he was two or three.

Our children had all four until they were 5 and 2. Three until they were 12 and 9. At 29 and 26 they have their grandmas - 88 and ailing. DH and I were about 11/12 years older than our mothers and grandmas when we had children, hence we had grandparents until we were about 40.

When I was born I had three grandparents alive.

They died when I was 3, 19 and 26

My mums mother died when she (DGM) was only a few years older than I am now - I'm not yet 40.
I don't remember ever having all four grandparents alive, I was a toddler at the time.

My maternal grandfather died the year before I was born at 65 , paternal grandfather when I was 12 at 89. Paternal grandmother aged 91 when I was 21 and maternal grandmother aged 96 when I was 34. It does depend on position in the family etc, my paternal grandparents were born in the 1890’s and my father was around 20 years younger than some of his siblings.

My children never knew their paternal grandfather and lost the rest of their grandparents before any of them were 30. I was also widowed young and my son in law lost both his parents so if my DD has a child they will only have me and my second DH as grandparents.

I think it is quite unusual to have all your grandparents as an adult.

I had all four until my early 30s, DS is 14 and has lost 2 already. 1 in 30 people lose a parent before they turn 18. I don’t know what the statistics are for grandparents.

It is rare at the age of 31. DH had all 4 grandparents alive aged 31 and it was unusual at the time.
The 1st one died when he was about 33 iirc,

2 died before I was born, 1 when I was 6 months old and the final one when I was 9.

DH had all 4 (though 1 was a step-grandparent as the “original” died in WWII) until his teens. He lost both maternal grandparents between 14 and 21 then both paternal grandparents in his 30s.

Our DC have 3/4 still alive aged 70-81, with the 4th dying 5 years ago aged 79.