Easing the Pressures on Sandwich Generations – Now and in the Future
By Terry Selucky (New York City)
A recent Pew Research study about the “Sandwich Generation” has started a buzz in finance magazines such as Forbes, DailyFinance, and the like. It states that one in seven middle-aged adults (15%) is providing financial support to both an aging parent and a child at the same time. Scraping out of the recession, relied on by two separate but dependent age groups, adults aged 40 to 59 are stressed by the pressures of providing financial and emotional support to both aging parents to old to work, and an expanding group of grown, underemployed children.
Though the increased pressure is coming more from grown children—nearly half (42%) of adults surveyed, aged 40-59, are providing primary support to a grown child, with an additional 32% offering “some” support, whereas only 21% of adults provide for aging parents—the Pew study reveals that significantly more adults under 40 state they are “very likely” to care for an aging family member, when compared to those in middle-age. It’s a logical result of the Baby Boom, which comprised the single largest generation in history before Millennials came along. Boomers are living longer and unfortunately, have overall worse health than previous generations; now is the time to start planning for their old age.
“With increased longevity come the inevitable problems associated with aging, which include the need for more help with daily life in our aging parents,” writes Carolyn Rosenblatt. A registered nurse, attorney, and founder of the website AgingParents.com, she points out that the Family Medical Leave Act allows employees to take unpaid time off to assist with aging parents, but the Sandwich Generation needs a better system so that they can continue to be breadwinners for multigenerational families.
It’s clear—something must shift. Could it be traditional work schedules?
“Of course more flex time will be needed,” Rosenblatt says. “An obvious solution is for employers who value their employees to make it easier for those meeting the needs of aging parents to do what is necessary… It costs far too much to rehire and retrain new employees. It is more cost effective to allow greater flexibility in the workplace for those who have the dual responsibility of caring for their own young kids and their aging loved ones at the same time. It can be worked out in a cooperative employer-employee atmosphere.”
Flex work time has long been on the table for employees who want more time for their children. Working mothers have pioneered a workplace that occasionally yields to the other half of life, despite controversial pushback from some business leaders.
Yet with aging parents, men as well as women will have to confront new challenges. A July 2012 Pew Study revealed that, despite what some might assume, about half of Americans (45%) in the caregiving role are men. This may be due to changing social norms, or the fact that the children of aging parents are more likely than ever to move far from home. The one who takes on the caregiving role can be less about gender and more about geography.
Rosenblatt, however, highlights the difficulties for women caregivers in a recent Forbes post,“Is Caring For Aging Parents Unfair to Women?” She says, “Fewer than half of workers manage to keep their jobs during the period of caregiving. If a midlife woman is saving for retirement and has to quit, she will lose out on the benefits of working until retirement age. That will adversely affect her own future as she ages.”
For most women (and men), careful planning is possible. Rosenblatt offers a few pieces of advice: “First, look for jobs with good employee satisfaction ratings. Look for ‘family-friendly’ work opportunities.” Websites such as glassdoor.com and bestplacestowork.org list companies and reasons for employee satisfaction. Companies with high ratings, Rosenblatt says, “are more likely to offer flex-time, job sharing or other, more realistic alternatives to the standard (established by men?) work schedules.”
Secondly, “If you are already working in a place that lacks such flexible policies, raise the issue, ask for consideration and do your homework. Some companies manage to succeed while allowing caregiving employees the room they need to help aging loved ones. They allow employees to take time off and do not fire them for this. Find out which ones are flexible and ask your HR, EAP or employee representative to consider a change in policy. If women do not assert themselves in this way, things will never change.”
And finally, “If you have aging parents who are not wealthy, educate yourself about the costs of long-term health care. We may be living longer, but it comes at a price: we have more health issues, more disability and need more assistance. Help isn’t free. Medicare does not pay for most long-term care. See a competent financial advisor and do some long-term planning with your parents and more importantly, for yourself. And get long-term care insurance. It’s worth the cost and there are not any good alternatives unless you are very wealthy or very low-income.”
While the stresses of the Sandwich Generation won’t be solved immediately, the good that might come out of it is a flexible workplace with better policies for all.