Mayor's Office of Employee Assistance
Understanding the Sandwich Generation
Alice Robinson, one of your most competent employees, is exhausted and distracted. Two weeks ago, her 82-year-old father was found wandering miles from home. Alice is also concerned about her adolescent daughter. Since her grandfather started acting strangely, the 13-year-old has been skipping school and hanging out with kids who seem to be “trouble.” In the past 10 days, Alice has missed four afternoons of work while she checked out adult day care centers for her father and visited her daughter’s school to talk about the girl’s absences. Alice asks if you know where she can turn for help.
Alice is a typical member of the “Sandwich Generation,” working adults, often in their 30s, 40s and 50s, who are caught between the demands of caring for aging parents and raising their children. The ranks of the Sandwich Generation are growing. More than two-thirds of women with children under the age of 18 years are in the workforce. As much as one-third of the U.S. work force bears
caregiving responsibilities for older relatives. And about half those relatives are located more than 100 miles away from their adult children.
Working adults with conflicting caregiving demands live in every state in the nation and work in just about every imaginable occupation. Members of the Sandwich Generation share many of these concerns:
the need for information and referrals to child care providers and elder care services
a need for alternative work options that allow them to work outside the traditional 9-to-5, Monday-through-Friday
week
strained relationships with elderly parents caused by caretaking responsibilities
concerns about leaving young children
with caregivers
a need to learn better parenting and
communication skills
stressed relationships with spouses
health problems caused by
stress and burnout
the need to incorporate exercise and relaxation into their lives
How Can Employers Help?
In order to remain productive members of the workforce, members of the Sandwich Generation and other working parents need practical help balancing their work and
family obligations. Organizations that recognize this need now offer services to help employees, including referrals
to child and elder care providers, crisis management services, workshops, family-friendly policies and information
on other community resources.
Some organizations also offer support groups and alternative work options, such as part-time job-sharing, compressed work week and flextime, which allow employees to adjust their work schedules to accommodate family and caregiving responsibilities. These services are often provided through an organization’s Employee Assistance
Program (EAP) or the human resources department.
Get to know your employees so you
can understand the demands they face.
Then learn about the EAP program and related benefits at your organization. Manager training is important for learning to be sensitive and more creative with problem-solving solutions for work-family conflicts.
You’ll be a more effective manager when you know how you can help your employees deal with
the often delicate balance of work and family responsibilities.