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The
Sandwich Generation
This article was
published in The West End
Times July 23, 2011.
We’ve all seen
the TV commercials that play on the great family age gaps. The
grandparents are
a twinkly eyed, white-haired couple, about 75 to 80 years old. Grandma
looks as
though she spent the day baking cookies The
grandchildren are kindergarten age or grade 1 at most, helping out with
the
icing, smiling. That's the TV version of grandparents and grandchildren
with
the gap in age being 70 years.
The facts in
reality are very different. Today’s grandparents of five and
six year olds are
probably in their 50’s and possibly in their
40’s…. The “Boomers”
Many
Boomers are what is known as the
"sandwich generation," wherein they are taking care of their children
and their elderly parents. Indeed, a not-insignificant number of these
Boomers
are what could be called the "triple-decker sandwich generation" --
taking care of their grandchildren and their elderly
parents….
Their life can be particularly
stressful and hectic.
Almost
3 in 10 of those aged
45 to 64 with unmarried
children under 25 in the home, or
some 712,000 individuals,
are also caring for a senior.
More
than 8 in 10 of these sandwiched
individuals work, causing
some to reduce or shift their hours or to lose income.
Indeed,
caring for an
elderly person could lead to a change in work hours, refusal of a job
offer, or
a reduction in income. Some 15% of sandwiched workers have to
reduce their
hours, 20% have to change their schedules and 10%
lose income.
Also, 4 in 10 sandwiched
workers incur extra expenses such as renting medical equipment or
purchasing
cell phones.
Women were
more likely
than men to be sandwiched. On average, women
spend 29 hours a month
providing care to seniors, more than twice as many as
the 13 hours
spent by their male counterparts. The extra hours for women may be due
in part
to the type of care performed. For example, outside home maintenance
and
transportation assistance were most often done by men. Women were more
likely
to provide personal care such as bathing, dressing or feeding, and
in-home care
such as food preparation and clean up.
As a result
of the aging of the baby boomers, lower fertility rates and the delay
in
starting families, older family members will require care when children
are
still part of the household. Projections show that by
2056, the proportion of Canadians age 65 or older
will more than double, to over one in four; similarly, the proportion
of people
80 and over will triple to about one in 10, says the study, taken from
figures
compiled during the 2007 General Social Survey (GSS) on Family, Social
Support and
Retirement.
The survey,
which interviewed 23,000 Canadians age 45 and older, also found the
population
of seniors surpassed 4.3 million in 2006, up 11.5 per cent from 2001. As we age it is apparent that the
government cannot keep up with the
needs of our seniors and the demands of care are falling to the family.
Many
ageing people don’t have any family close by or any family -
who are available,
willing or able to assist with their care. For those whose families are
able to
assist them, caregiver burnout is a major issue. Balancing
care giving and work
responsibilities is a juggle at best and besides the financial, and
emotional
cost of care giving there is, for many, a loss of productivity when
trying to
juggle all responsibilities. Retirement savings for many have been
negatively
impacted with recent economic events and this too gravely impacts on
both
caregivers and the care recipients.
Regardless
what generation you belong to….we all have a responsibility
to the most
vulnerable in our society, the old, children and the ill. One sign of
the
health of our society is how well we do this. So far not too well! Do
we have a
plan? We can not continue with “same old”
“same old.” I know I often rant about
our health care or sick care system. Health care has to include
concerns about
societal health. How long can we leave this to chance?
Thoughts,
comments, suggestions are always
welcome.
Contact me at donna@ashcanada.com
Health Access, Home and Nursing care
514-695-3131
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