The number of “sandwich generation” caregivers is growing

The “sandwich generation” refers to that population of adults caring for both younger children and older parents at the same time. This is a lot of work no matter what — and it’s often unpaid, which means juggling all of the care responsibilities with a full-time job elsewhere.

Recent research confirms what many already know from their day-to-day experience: This type of situation takes a toll on mental, physical and financial health for sandwich generation caregivers.

Marketplace’s senior economics contributor Chris Farrell has been digging into the research. He spoke with “Marketplace Morning Report” host Sabri Ben-Achour. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.

Sabri Ben-Achour: So have we not kind of always had a sandwich generation? A generation burdened by taking care of the people who took care of them, plus their own kids?

Chris Farrell: Yes, there has always been a sandwich generation. But here’s the thing: It’s gotten much bigger over time. Pew Research Center, they estimate that about one-quarter of American adults now belong to the sandwich generation. And adults in their 40s, they had the biggest presence. And the reason why the ranks of people joining the sandwich generation are growing is the combination of longer lives on average and having children later. And a majority of the sandwich generation, by the way, is in paid employment.

Ben-Achour: Yeah, so they are working on top of taking care of everybody. What does the research say about the mental health of people in this position?

Farrell: On average, they can experience significant declines in their mental health — including depression, anxiety and burnout. I mean, no surprise there, right? And mental health concerns can persist for several years. And these insights, they come from a recently published report by researchers in the United Kingdom. And what they did is they looked at some 2,000 sandwich caregivers and compared their experience to 2,000 caregivers solely looking after a child under 16 from 2009 to 2020.

Ben-Achour: I have to say, I have seen this myself — friends entering their 40s, things get really hard, taking care of their parents and their kids. And the study you just mentioned was in Britain, of course, but presumably, I mean, do people face the same challenges here in the U.S.?

Farrell: Absolutely. A U.S.-based study published two years ago reported that nearly one-quarter of those surveyed that they confronted financial strains, and nearly one-half said they dealt with significant emotional difficulties. By the way, it is important to emphasize that these surveys also show that a majority of sandwich generation adults — they’re very satisfied with their family life.

Ben-Achour: What about employers? Is there anything employers can do or are doing to help?

Farrell: Employers are doing more and more. I mean, they’re embracing caregiving benefits. So the reason why employers are doing that is they’re looking to improve productivity and employee retention in an economy with an unemployment rate of 4.1%. The problem is you have to be working at an organization that offers these benefits. And there have been various public policy proposals for better supporting all adult caregivers, yet none has really gained traction in the nation’s capital.