Sociologists define the "sandwich generation" as the cohort of mid-career employees "sandwiched" between supporting demands of their children and their parents'. Usually, they are over 30 and juggle between a full-time job at work and another full-time job at home. It is a growing generation as fewer places are made available for elderly people to be cared for in a nursing home.
Governments often silently acknowledge the very important work done by such people who ease the pressures on publicly financed nursing homes for the elderly. They may even occasionally grant some fiscal concession to encourage them to continue with their good work. But more is needed to support the sandwich generation.
Most of us know of such cases. A young mother or even a father may have to care for their young children, and one or both of their parents who may also be suffering from some debilitating disease like Parkinson's or Alzheimer's. At the same time, to keep the family's cash flow, such altruistic people also have to cope with a full-time job.
Young people are deciding to leave their parents' home much later than was the case until some years ago. At the same time, elderly parents are living for much longer, even if the quality of their lives greatly depends on the level of care that is available to them. In the absence of a sufficiently extensive network of publicly financed care for the elderly, the sandwich generation often have to step in out of a sense of duty to family and relatives that are dependent on private support.
More needs to be done to ensure that this phenomenon is managed with dignity, respect and economic sense. The main contributors to a pragmatic solution to this problem must be the employers of those on whose shoulders falls the burden of caring for their dear ones.
No one really knows when a caring parent would need to leave his or her place of work at very short notice to attend to a medical emergency for a disabled parent, or rush to a child's school to help a son or daughter that may have been injured in a playground incident.
Such incidents drain the physical and emotional energy of those who have to spend years dealing with such situations. It is, of course, acknowledged that employers indirectly share the consequences of the onerous arrangements that some of their employees have to make to cope with these difficult circumstances.
But when such employers invest in some emotional capital and empathise with their employees in such situations they will be doing themselves a great service. By supporting their employees in times of need, even if these times may appear to be too frequent, they will win the loyalty and commitment of the staff caught up in these difficult situations.
Various organisations have been very creative in coming up with formal and informal strategies to deal with this phenomenon. Some employers offer career time off to attend external support groups as well as access to a confidential support services for carers.
Other employers offer enhanced childcare facilities, enhanced maternity and paternity payments, and extended maternity leave. Others offer to employees care facilities for children and elderly relatives. They also run a framework of flexible working arrangements that include job-sharing, part-time work, flexible hours, compressed working weeks, home-working, family leave, short-term leave and employment breaks.
We need to raise public consciousness about this problem. These people are enriching our society by the very personalised and special care that they provide to their dependants - be they the young or the elderly. They deserve all the support that they can get.
Rather than relying on legislation to improve the facilities available to the sandwich generation, employers should take initiatives that confirm their commitment to fulfil their social responsibilities fully. This can be done by offering their employees working conditions that are family-friendly, especially for those who have to care for young and elderly dependants.
If and when this is done successfully, we will not only have a fairer society, but also one that can thrive economically because its interests are woven in the business ethos of our entrepreneurs.
johncassarwhite@yahoo.com