Sandwich generation
The "sandwich generation" refers to a demographic group, primarily consisting of middle-aged individuals aged 40 to 60, who are simultaneously caring for both their elderly parents and their young children. This term highlights the unique challenges faced by individuals who are "sandwiched" between two generations that require financial, physical, and emotional support. First identified in the 1980s, the sandwich generation is not defined by birth years but rather by current life circumstances, allowing individuals to enter and exit this category based on their caregiving roles.
Modern members of the sandwich generation often deal with increased stress due to the demands of caring for aging parents with chronic health issues while also parenting young children. This situation is exacerbated by societal shifts, such as later childbearing and economic factors that have led to more adult children living at home. Research indicates that a significant percentage of adults in this age range find themselves in this caregiving role, with many experiencing negative emotions like stress and sadness. Women in this group often report higher levels of stress compared to their male counterparts. Experts suggest coping strategies, such as nurturing personal relationships and seeking professional support, to help manage the emotional and practical burdens of being part of the sandwich generation.
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Sandwich generation
The sandwich generation is a designation for Americans who are caring for both their elderly parents and their young children. The generation got its name because it is "sandwiched" between an older generation needing financial and physical care and a younger generation needing the same. The sandwich generation was first identified in the 1980s. Unlike other designations, the sandwich generation is not defined by individuals being born in a particular period. Instead, people are categorized in this generation if they meet a particular set of standards in their lives. The sandwich generation is also a changeable category, with people entering it and exiting it as their situations change.
Background
Generation designations began in the twentieth century. One of the first designations was the baby boomer generation, which includes individuals who were born between 1946 and 1964. This generation got its name because there was a marked increase in the number of children born during this time. After World War II ended in 1945, many people were eager to start families, causing a boom in the birthrate. The baby boomer generation is one of the best-known designations, and has a well-defined time frame. In the late twentieth century, social scientists named generation X, which includes individuals born roughly between 1961 and 1980, and the millennial generation, which includes those born roughly between 1981 and 2000 (although the end date differs widely).
The designation of the sandwich generation originated in 1981 when Dorothy Mill, a social worker, published a paper about people who were responsible for caring both for their parents and their children. Unlike other generational designations, the sandwich generation was defined by certain life circumstances, not by being born during a certain period. Since the 1980s, the term has become more popular. In 2006, the Merriam-Webster dictionary started to include the term sandwich generation.
Overview
Middle-aged people—individuals between the ages of forty and sixty—are most often members of the sandwich generation. People in middle age who are caring for or supporting an aging parent and who are caring for or supporting a child are part of the sandwich generation. The sandwich generation is also a changeable category. Once a person is no longer caring for elderly parents and children at the same time, that person is longer in the sandwich generation. Similarly, people enter the sandwich generation as their parents age, and they have to care for them.
People have been caring for their parents and their children for most of recorded history. However, people in the modern sandwich generation face different challenges than in the past. Advances in medicine have allowed people to live longer. People today are also having children later in life than in previous generations. Furthermore, more families include single parents or two parents who work outside the home than in previous generations. These demographic shifts have improved lives in many ways, but they have also contributed to the rise of the sandwich generation.
People in the sandwich generation often have to care for elderly parents whose health is failing. Modern medicine allows people to live longer, but elderly people are more likely to live with chronic health problems than in the past. Children often have to help their aging parents care for themselves. This can involve taking parents to medical appointments, giving parents medical treatments, doing housework, making meals, and filling out paperwork. Furthermore, adult children in the 2010s are more likely to live with their parents than in the previous one hundred years. Some in the sandwich generation also care for younger children, who require total supervision and care. Sometimes people in the sandwich generation also help care for their grandchildren, putting an additional strain on people in this group.
According to a Pew Research Center study, in 2012 roughly 47 percent of adults aged forty to fifty-nine were caring for a parent aged sixty-five or older and at least one child. That was an increase from 45 percent of American adults with the same results in 2005. That increase was due mostly to an increase in the number of people supporting their grown children. In 2005 roughly 42 percent of adults supported, either partially or entirely, their grown children. In 2012 roughly 48 percent of adults supported their grown children. This happened in part because of the economic downturn in the United States starting in 2008. According to the same study, married people are more likely to be members of the sandwich generation. People with higher incomes are also more likely to be part of this group.
People in the sandwich generation often report feeling negative emotions such as stress and sadness. Women in the sandwich generation are more likely to report feeling extreme stress than men. People in the sandwich generation are also more likely to be depressed than other people their age. This is in part because people who are caring for parents and children have hectic schedules. Furthermore, they are likely to be financially supporting their parents and children, causing them to have less money to deal with their own financial obligations. Since members of the sandwich generation are generally middle-aged, they are often still working, and have to balance work with caring for their loved ones. Additional demands on time from family members can cause even more stress for people in the sandwich generation.
Although members of the sandwich generation will sometimes feel anxious or depressed, experts recommend that people in the sandwich generation take a few steps to help themselves deal with any negative emotions. For example, experts recommend that members of the sandwich generation nurture other relationships, such as those with a partner and with friends. Experts also recommend that people in the sandwich generation attempt to control their own schedules and not allow other people to make their schedules for them. Experts also suggest that those struggling with the demands of life should seek support groups or professional therapists.
Bibliography
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