The Sandwich Generation Balances Children and Elderly Parents
— by Monster.com
Does your typical day include leaving work early to pick up blood-pressure medicine for Dad before racing to day care to beat the $150 late fee, then heading home to worry about missed work time?
Welcome to the sandwich generation.
Millions of middle-aged and older workers feel squeezed by the needs of dependent children and aging parents. Nine percent to 13 percent of US households with two or more people age 30 to 60 have two earners and care for both elders and children, according to research by Margaret Neal and Leslie Hammer, both professors at Portland State University in Oregon.
And the sandwich generation is growing. “More and more working people are finding themselves squeezed between child care and caring for a parent,” says Kathie Lingle, director of the Alliance for Work-Life Progress.
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