sandwhich generation

• Sandwhich generation - generation responsible both for bringing up own children and for care of ageing parents. Holzhausen -he concept can also be used much more broadly to describe a variety of multiple caring responsibilities for people in different generations. We tend to interpret it as those who combine looking after a dependent child under the age of 18 with caring for an adult. There is an estimated 2.4 million people in the U.K (YouGov, 2013) who are responsible for both their own dependent children, their elderly parents and even grandchildren at the same time.
• Sandwich generation


  • Puts emotional and financial strain on people, usually women in mid to later life
  • Have to carry out responsibilities for parents who may be ill, unable to perform various tasks, or in need of financial support and children who may require financial, physical, and emotional support
  • While continuing to earn and pursue career
• People in the sandwich generation have likely given up work as a result of their greater caring responsibilities
• Caring responsibilities of the sandwich generation


  Have significant implications for work opportunities, incomes and pensions
• Older women continue to be at a disadvantage in the labour market
• The pay gap for older women is a result of caring responsibilities, discrimination and other factors that push women into part-time work or unemployment
• The pay gap makes older women more likely to experience financial difficulties
• Sandwich generation families


  Families responsible for providing care for their elderly family members as well as their own children
• Reasons for rise in sandwich generation families

  • Increased life expectancy
  • Changes in fertility
• Increased life expectancy


  People are living longer, and families may now become responsible for providing care for their elderly family members in their later years
• Economic pressures


  Parents and their adult children may not have the economic resources to pay for expensive private residential nursing homes, leading to an increase in this family structure
• Cost of care home place

  • Around £600 a week according to charity Age UK
• Desire to look after parents in later age


  Out of love and loyalty
• Changes in fertility


  Many women delaying having children for longer, leading to a growing number of older women joining the 'sandwich generation'
• Birth rates in Britain have dropped
• The average age of a mother has been increasing since the mid 1970's and reached a record high of 30.7 years in 2019 and 2020
• A woman who becomes a first time mother at 36 may at 50 be caring for dependent children and her elderly parents
• These women in particular are faced with competing demands from both older and younger family members
• With fewer siblings to share the burden, more middle aged adults are finding mothers or fathers living with them
• Reasons for rise in sandwich generation families 

  1. Increased Life Expectancy


  people are living longer, and families now responsible for providing care for their elderly family members in their later years. may be because of economic pressures- parents and adult children may not have the economic resources to pay for expensive private residential nursing homes .costs average around £600 a week for a care home place. Many families also want to look after their parents in later age out of love and loyalty.
• Changes in Fertility 


  • many delaying having children for longer, average of mother has been increasing This means that a growing number of older women are joining the 'sandwich generation', and have at least one parent alive as well as children.Becomes a first time mother at 36 may at 50 be caring for dependent children and her elderly parents- are faced with competing demands from both older and younger family members. With fewer siblings to share burden, more middle aged adults are have parents living with them
• Reasons for rise in sandwich generation families

  • Increased Life Expectancy
  • Changes in Fertility
• Increased Life Expectancy


  People are living longer, and families may now become responsible for providing care for their elderly family members in their later years
• Economic pressures


  Parents and their adult children may not have the economic resources to pay for expensive private residential nursing homes which may have led to an increase in this family structure
• The charity Age UK state that costs average around £600 a week for a care home place
• Many families also want to look after their parents in later age out of love and loyalty
• Changes in Fertility


  Many women delaying having children for longer, birth rates in Britain have dropped
• The average age of a mother has been increasing since the mid 1970's and reached a record high of 30.7 years in 2019 and 2020
• A growing number of older women are joining the 'sandwich generation', and have at least one parent alive as well as children
• These women in particular are faced with competing demands from both older and younger family members
• With fewer siblings to share the burden, more middle aged adults are finding mothers or fathers living with them