The sandwich generation is growing, and it’s impacting your business

Meet Sarah, a sandwich generation caregiver.

Sarah is a millennial who was born in 1985. She works as a marketing coordinator for a large firm. She has two kids at home. A few months ago, after her aging father had a scary fall, she helped her parents move into a home just a few blocks from her house so that she could better support them.

Sarah works a full 40-hour workweek and spends an additional 30 or more hours each week caring for her loved ones. She supports her parents, who need her support running errands, transportation to appointments, and daily check-ins to ensure they are safe. Additionally, she also cares for her two young kids at home, who need typical parental support, including meals, transportation to school and activities, not to mention help with homework.

It’s exhausting and all-consuming for Sarah. She often finds herself overwhelmed as she tries to juggle it all.

Chances are, Sarah’s story sounds familiar. It’s likely that either you or someone you know shares a similar story. In fact, more than 23% of the workforce cares for aging parents or grandparents and young children at home. People like Sarah are part of an ever-growing club known by many as the sandwich generation—people responsible for caring for multiple generations.

While the sandwich generation is growing rapidly, there is hope for those who are stretched thin between caring for two generations and their workplace responsibilities. More and more research is being released on this population, and with that research comes innovative programs and resources designed to support sandwich generation caregivers like Sarah.

The rise of the sandwich generation

Sandwich generation employees find themselves caring for aging parents (or grandparents) in addition to providing care for their young children at home, leading to hours of added family care responsibilities each month.

More than half of Americans in their 40s are in the sandwich generation, and 19% of those are millennials. With millennials making up the vast majority of our workforce, it’s easy to see why the sandwich generation is growing rapidly.

The strain of dual caregiving responsibilities impacts these workers and their employers. Research from our employer’s guide shows that 57% of employee caregivers report clinically significant levels of stress, anxiety, and depression. Many say their health is poor and that caregiving has made it worse. 

What’s more, the mental health effects of caregiving are impacting the way these employees work. In our employer’s guide, we report that 45% of employees take several days off each month for caregiving and that organizations are losing more than $44 billion a year in productivity due to caregiving. For sandwich generation members, caregiving responsibilities are essentially doubled, multiplying the already significant effects.

Sandwich generation caregivers go beyond physical care

Imagine if Sarah, the mom we talked about in the introduction to this article, decided to just provide physical care for her kids. Let’s say she said, “I’ll give them a roof over their heads and food to eat and an occasional ride to school, but nothing else.” No parental advice, no emotional support on a bad day, no help with homework. It’s almost laughable to imagine this, as everyone knows that kids need much more than just physical care from their parents.

This is also true for older adults. Sarah would be remiss if she just provided her parents with an occasional check-in and a ride to appointments. Just like it’s vital for her to invest in the mental and emotional health of her kids, it’s important to spend time supporting the mental and emotional health of her parents. This takes time, energy, and emotional investment. 

Moreover, caregiving isn’t limited to just physical and mental care; most sandwich generation caregivers also provide financial support for their loved ones. For obvious reasons, Sarah provides financially for her young kids at home, and will do so for the foreseeable future. A recent Pew Research report states that younger generations stay financially dependent on their parents for much longer than they did 20 years ago, meaning Sarah can expect to financially provide for her kids for many more years. Additionally, rising inflation is forcing many in the sandwich generation to subsidize the care of their parents with their own funds. Sarah already provides supplemental financial help for her parents and plans to do so as long as they need it. 

Sandwich generation caregivers are now squished between two inflated groups, investing time, money, and resources in both. People like Sarah often find themselves stretched thin, torn between caring for two generations while juggling the jobs that they need in order to financially provide for both.

Changing demographics are changing business

As we said before, the sandwich generation is growing rapidly. In fact, we have now reached the point where 23% of adults care for loved ones in two (or more) generations, and more than half of people in their 50s (59%) provide financial support for both their parents and their children.

These changing demographics impact millions of American workers and will likely affect your business. Many employers report that in the last few years, they’ve seen dramatic increases in absenteeism and turnover with sandwich-generation employees. Our research showed that more than 57% of caregivers have considered leaving the workforce altogether. This loss of productivity and increased attrition and turnover cost employers millions annually.

The solution to an ever-growing problem

There’s good news: While the sandwich generation will continue to grow, the mental, emotional, and financial strain of caregiving can be alleviated. Grayce supports employees across all life stages (including the sandwich generation caregivers) to get the personalized support they need, whether caring for young children, aging parents and grandparents, or both.

These services support employees like Sarah– so they can be their best selves at work while still providing the empathetic and essential care that their loved ones need.

If you would like to learn more about how you can support your sandwich-generation caregivers at your organization, download a free copy of our employer guide.