Abstract
AbstractWith a large baby-boomer generation entering mid-later life in the United Kingdom, and families spanning across multiple generations, understanding how individuals support multiple generations is of increasing research and policy significance. Data from the British 1958 National Child Development Study, collected when respondents were aged 55, are used to examine how mid-life women and men allocate their time to support elderly parents/parents-in-law and their own adult children in terms of providing grandchild care, and whether there is a trade-off in caring for different generations. Binary logistic and multinomial regression models distinguish between individuals supporting multiple generations, only one generation or none. One-third of mid-life individuals are ‘sandwiched’ between multiple generations, by having at least one parent/parent-in-law and one grandchild alive. Among them, half are simultaneously supporting both generations. Caring for grandchildren increases the probability of also supporting one's parents/parents-in-law, and vice versa. More intense support for one generation is associated with a higher likelihood of supporting the other generation. Good health is associated with caring for multiple generations for men and women, while working part-time or not at all is associated with such care provision for women only. Facilitating mid-life men and women in responding to family support demands whilst maintaining paid employment will be critical in fostering future intergenerational support.
Highlights
With improving life expectancy, increasing female employment and changing family formation, baby-boomers entering mid- and later life face the prospect of juggling multiple roles, combining paid work with family obligations (Evandrou and Glaser, 2004; Fingerman et al, 2012)
Benefits to working families with young children have been reduced and, the government has recently introduced 15 hours of free child care per week for three- and four-year-olds (Department for Education, 2014), the cost of child care means that many parents are unable to work full-time without family support
This research employs a cohort study, the National Child Development Study (NCDS), which began with more than 17,000 children born in a single week in March 1958 in Britain, who have been followed up at regular intervals throughout their lives
Summary
With improving life expectancy, increasing female employment and changing family formation, baby-boomers entering mid- and later life face the prospect of juggling multiple roles, combining paid work with family obligations (Evandrou and Glaser, 2004; Fingerman et al, 2012). The number of people at risk of simultaneously providing care for children and parents, the so-called ‘sandwich generation’, has grown (Rubin and White-Means, 2009; Friedman et al, 2015). Benefits to working families with young children have been reduced and, the government has recently introduced 15 hours of free child care per week for three- and four-year-olds (Department for Education, 2014), the cost of child care means that many parents (frequently mothers) are unable to work full-time without family support.
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