Sandwich Generation Part 3: Mostly Women Are Caregivers

My dearest friend's sister-in-law really IS sandwiched caring for her grandkids and her dad who now has lymphoma and is starting chemo, her brother who has just been diagnosed with liver cancer and her husband who is still just hanging on.    She is fairly typical of full blown caregiving. The Family Caregiving Alliance notes that:

Most older persons with long-term care needs—65%—rely exclusively on family and friends to provide assistance. Another 30% will supplement family care with assistance from paid providers. Care provided by family and friends can determine whether older persons can remain at home. In fact, 50% of the elderly who have a long-term care need but no family available to care for them are in nursing homes, while only 7% who have a family caregiver are in institutional settings.

Within our complex system of long-term care, women’s caregiving is essential in providing a backbone of support. In fact, the value of the informal care that women provide ranges from $148 billion to $188 billion annually. Women provide the majority of informal care to spouses, parents, parents-in-law, friends and neighbors, and they play many roles while caregiving—hands-on health provider, care manager, friend, companion, surrogate decision-maker and advocate.

 

Gail Sheehey, author of "Passages", is writing a new book on caregiving. I chatted briefly with her at the Boomer Summit. She commented that caregiving women are suffering, their health compromised, their incomes conpromised and their own long term financial well-being conpromised.

As boomers age, who will be caring? And in this election year--who is proposing solutions?

Some information can be sought from the following organization:

 Family Caregiver Alliance
180 Montgomery Street, Suite 1100
San Francisco, CA 94104
(415) 434-3388 l (800) 445-8106
Website: www.caregiver.org
E-mail: info@caregiver.org

 

My caregiving is one-way at present. downward to my daughter--but I wonder, who will care for me should I have pressing needs before my little one grows up? A rare recent and gratefully short hospital stay showed the value of friends and neighbors who pitched in to help--get me there, get the pets fed, manage everything. My ex who lives nearby cared for our daughter--but what if I were incapacitated long term...? It's a big question.

And who if anyone, cares for my friend's sister-in-law?

 

Comments

[Virginia]

Linda, I think your notion of piggybacking on caregiving legislation is a sound one. And who will be caring for returning soldiers and elderly parents and themselves--mostly women. My formal research area is contemporary urban China and there is a similar emerging problem as well. It is called the 421 problem--one child taking care of two parents and four grandparents.

[Virginia]

Linda, I think your notion of piggybacking on caregiving legislation is a sound one. And who will be caring for returning soldiers and elderly parents and themselves--mostly women. My formal research area is contemporary urban China and there is a similar emerging problem as well. It is called the 421 problem--one child taking care of two parents and four grandparents.

[Linda]

My parents are becoming less and less mobile. I have been trying to have a discussion with them about what happens when one can't take care of the other or they both need care. They always say don't worry 'we have long term health care." But my parents are not ill and they could live for years and years, not capable of moving around much. I know from just finishing 8 months of primary caregiving that it is a mental and very physically draining job.

My research shows there really is very little being done legislatively or societally to deal with the onslaught of baby boomers and their parents needing care. However, with all of the injured soldiers needing 24 hour care, there may be some hope for all caregivers because the care of a parapalegic or mentally challenged soldier is very similar to elderly parents in general, people with alzheimers and dementia, and chronically ill people. So it would behove those lobbying for caregivers in general to piggyback off the proposed legislation for caregivers of Iraq war soldiers. It is true that these young men and women were serving our country, but most all of the people needing care contributed to society and their caregivers deserve a break too.