A Profile of a Sandwiched Employee

08/08/2002

A Profile of a Sandwiched Employee

"A man who does not leave his hut will bring nothing in." —West African proverb

A PROFILE OF THE SANDWICHED EMPLOYEE

The Summer 2002 issue of Options, the newsletter of the Work-Life Coalition of San Diego, provides these statistics on employees who are dealing with both child care and elder care issues at the same time:

* 41% of caregivers bear the responsibility for both children and elders. (US Department of Labor)

* A typical employee in this situation devotes more than one working day a week to two elderly parents. (Neal, Hammer, Richard, Isgrigg, Brockwood)

* Members of the sandwich generation are generally between the ages of 35 and 60 years old. (Ceridian)

* 80% of human resource professionals say baby boomers are being crunched by pressures of caring for both parents and children, but 90% say their organization offered no service for elder caregivers beyond referral (Personnel Journal)

* 72% of sandwiched caregivers are women although, in recent years, men are more likely than before to be caregivers. (NAC/AARP)

* Racially, the sandwich generation nearly mirrors the nation as a whole: 75% are white, 11% are African American, 9% are Hispanic American, and 4% are Asian American. (AARP)

The Alliance of Work/Life Professionals, an Exchange Strategic Partner, is a source of information on elder care trends and resources. To learn more about AWLP go to the partners section of our web site, www.ChildCareExchange.com.

For more information about Exchange's magazine, books, and other products pertaining to ECE, go to www.ccie.com.