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NewsWire: 5/5/22
- About a quarter of U.S. adults are “sandwiched” between a child they’re supporting and an aging parent. Most are in their 40s and are somewhat more likely than other adults to say they’re satisfied with their family life. (Pew Research Center)
- NH: If you have a parent 65+ and are financially supporting a minor or adult child, Pew defines you as a member of the "sandwich generation." According to a recent Pew poll, 23% of adults fall into this category. Those ages 40-49 are the most likely to be "sandwichers" (54%). Those ages 50-59 (36%) are next in line. Overall, in other words, sandwichers are mostly Gen-Xers.
- Let’s further explore the demographics of these caregivers.
- Younger sandwichers are more likely to be caring for a minor than providing financial support to an adult child. For example, 95% of 30- to 39-year-old sandwichers have a child under 18, while only <0.5% support a child over 18. Conversely, only 6% of sandwichers 60+ care for a minor, while a whopping 83% financially support an adult child.
- On the one hand, this is purely a demographic phenomenon. Younger adults are less likely to have children over 18, and older adults are less likely to have children under 18. But the high share of those 60+ financially supporting their adult children is yet another reminder of the extent to which young adults are dependent on much-wealthier parents. (See "The Graying of Wealth" and "Nearly a Third of Millennials Are Getting Financial Help.”)
- Sandwichers are more likely to be highly educated and affluent. 30% of those with a bachelor's degree are sandwichers, while only 20% of those with some college or less meet the criteria. Additionally, 27% of those with high incomes are sandwichers, while only 21% of those with lower incomes meet the criteria.
- Why the difference? Education and wealth are correlated with higher life expectancies. Thus it makes sense these groups would be more likely to have a living parent age 65+. (See "Education Now Ahead of Race in Determining Life Expectancy.”) Also, of course, wealth enables parents to support adult children.
- Pew also found that sandwich generation adults report higher levels of family life satisfaction than other adults (48% vs. 43%).
- This may be surprising to some of our readers. In an earlier NewsWire, we discussed how sandwich caregivers are more likely to report work or financial strain, and even health problems, due to their caregiving responsibilities. (See "'Sandwich' Caregivers Are Feeling the Financial Strain.”) But that research was specifically looking at sandwichers who were actively taking care of aging parents. Moreover, IMO, it is unclear whether such stress necessarily results in less life satisfaction. Families are what family members do for each other. Xers who have no parents to look after--perhaps due to family breakdown and estrangement--may be no more satisfied with being spared the burden of care.
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