Editorial: Women disproportionally affected by sandwich generation squeeze |
As a recognized term, ‘sandwich generation’ has been around for some time — in fact, I recently learned it was coined by social worker Dorothy Miller in 1981, the year I was born.
But until an individual is feeling the actual squeeze of managing the responsibilities of supporting young children alongside ageing parents, it’s difficult to fully comprehend the full weight of what it means. While my kids are very young (ages two and five) and my parents are in relatively good shape as they approach their 80s, many of my friends (particularly my female friends) are experiencing this challenging reality, supporting parents with cognitive issues and physical disabilities while tending to the day-to-day needs of young families.
Read: Editorial: Calling on government, employers to update inequitable benefits for working parents
Data published by Statistics Canada in 2024 showed 1.8 million Canadians (about six per cent of the population aged 15 and older or 13 per cent of all unpaid caregivers) were sandwich generation caregivers. About a third (29 per cent) of this group was aged 35 to 44, followed by 45 to 54 (20 per cent) and 55 to 64 (18 per cent). And seven per cent of Canadian women provided ‘sandwich care,’ compared to five per cent of men.
What does this have to do with employers and the........