The Sanwich Generation
The Sandwich Generation
Nicole Medina
BSHS 371
November 21, 2012
Fathiah Inserto
The Sandwich Generation
The sandwich generations is a term describing a generation of people who care for their aging parents while supporting their own children. Merriam-Webster officially added the term to its dictionary in July 2006. In an individual perspective, “the term describes people who are squeezed between the simultaneous demands of caring for their parents and supporting their dependent children” (The 'Sandwich Generation ': Women taking care of parents and children, 2006). Men are more likely than women to support aging family members financially, and women are more likely to support their parents emotionally and in daily tasks such as household chores, shopping, and basic hygiene. Nearly 30 years ago, Elaine Brody reported that “having a dependent elderly parent was becoming a normative experience for many individuals and families and exceeding the capacities of some of them” ("The Sandwich Generation": Challenges of Caring for Parents, Children, and Yourself, 2012), in her community study of caregivers, she found that women in their middle years were providing more support to their elderly parents, their own children and had worked more than had their elderly parents when they were in midlife.
Demographics show that the sandwich generation is indeed growing. People are living longer, so more midlife adults have surviving parents, although often with serious impairments. Marriage is delayed, as is having children, such that middle-aged adults are more likely to still have children in the home as parents require care. Declines in fertility, such that there are fewer caregivers available (i.e., fewer siblings) and more adult children are choosing to live at home during college years. Finally, the proportion of midlife women in the workforce has increased dramatically over the past 30 years and middle-aged adults in general are typically at the peak of
Nicole Medina
BSHS 371
November 21, 2012
Fathiah Inserto
The Sandwich Generation
The sandwich generations is a term describing a generation of people who care for their aging parents while supporting their own children. Merriam-Webster officially added the term to its dictionary in July 2006. In an individual perspective, “the term describes people who are squeezed between the simultaneous demands of caring for their parents and supporting their dependent children” (The 'Sandwich Generation ': Women taking care of parents and children, 2006). Men are more likely than women to support aging family members financially, and women are more likely to support their parents emotionally and in daily tasks such as household chores, shopping, and basic hygiene. Nearly 30 years ago, Elaine Brody reported that “having a dependent elderly parent was becoming a normative experience for many individuals and families and exceeding the capacities of some of them” ("The Sandwich Generation": Challenges of Caring for Parents, Children, and Yourself, 2012), in her community study of caregivers, she found that women in their middle years were providing more support to their elderly parents, their own children and had worked more than had their elderly parents when they were in midlife.
Demographics show that the sandwich generation is indeed growing. People are living longer, so more midlife adults have surviving parents, although often with serious impairments. Marriage is delayed, as is having children, such that middle-aged adults are more likely to still have children in the home as parents require care. Declines in fertility, such that there are fewer caregivers available (i.e., fewer siblings) and more adult children are choosing to live at home during college years. Finally, the proportion of midlife women in the workforce has increased dramatically over the past 30 years and middle-aged adults in general are typically at the peak of
References: "The Sandwich Generation": Challenges of Caring for Parents, Children, and Yourself. (2012, March). Meet the Sandwich Generation. Retrieved from www.adelphi.edu/healthandwellness/pdfs/sandwich-generation-lecture.ppt Baby Boomers R We.com. (2009). Sandwich Generation. Retrieved from http://www.baby-boomers-r-we.com/sandwich-generation.html Circles of Love. (n.d.). The Sandwich Generation. Retrieved from http://www.sandwichgeneration.com/lectures.htm The 'Sandwich Generation ': Women taking care of parents and children. (2006, September). The Sandwich Generation. Retrieved from http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2006/09/art1full.pdf