The growing Sandwich Generation

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Posted by Mariel Kalda | Posted on 26-04-2013

Category : Community, News and Information, Support

Tags: , , , , , , ,

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     Studies show that the number people who fall into the “sandwich generation” has been on the rise and has grown significantly. Those individuals that belong to the sandwich generation are considered to be middle-aged adults who are responsible for children under 18 or adult children, in addition to being responsible for a senior parent. This change is said to be due to longer life expectancy of older adults and the economic downturn making it more difficult for young adults to find employment that will allow them to be financially independent. The article below describes how to avoid issues if you or someone you know is facing this type of situation.

 

 

 

 

How to Avoid Sandwich Generation Problems

Don’t let sandwich generation issues derail your retirement plans

From , former About.com Guide

An increasing number of people in their fifties and sixties are finding themselves caught in the “sandwich generation,” a financial and emotional squeeze. If you are struggling to cope simultaneously with the costs of caring for aging parents while you help your children pay for college or launch careers–while funding your own retirement–you’re in the sandwich generation.Sandwich Generation: A New Trend The demographic trends that combine to create this new sandwich generation are relatively new. Until recently, the need to at least partially support both aging parents and adult children simply didn’t exist, and most people in their fifties and sixties weren’t part of a sandwich generation.The sandwich generation was caused in part because lifespans today are much longer than in years past, and an increasing number of retirees or near-retirees have aging parents who require costly nursing home or in-home care. At the same time, many of these same people have children who are still in college or who may return home once or twice after college or between jobs in an effort to get on their feet. Thus, the sandwich generation was named.Sandwich Generation: Number of Aging Parents and Dependent Adult Children on the Rise Increasing lifespans increase the sandwich generation size.According to the Journal of Financial Service Professionals, at the beginning of the 20th century between 4% and 7% of people in their sixties had at least one parent still living. Today, that figure is nearly 50%. And people in their sixties who end up caring for an aging parent often feel they are getting a preview of what they may experience emotionally, physically and financially as they age—and at a time when they are confronting their own mortality more keenly than ever before.But that’s only half the story. As recently as 1990, only 25% of young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 lived with their parents. By 2000, the number had grown to 52%—and it’s still rising, putting more older adults into the sandwich generation–caring for aging parents and adult children.

How to Avoid Sandwich Generation Problems If you’re already in your sixties, or nearly, and feeling the financial squeeze of the sandwich generation, there are still a few things you can do to lower your stress level and increase your peace of mind. You might consider working a little longer, trimming your expenses, and urging your kids to explore every option for college financial aid—especially merit grants or scholarships that neither of you will have to repay after they graduate.

If you’re in your forties or fifties, chances are you have more time to plan and make preparations before you find yourself caught in the sandwich generation. Regardless of your age, however, here are a few steps you can take that may help you manage the needs of your aging parents and adult children without getting squeezed by sandwich generation problems:

  • Preserve Your Assets—Don’t be a sandwich generation martyr by raiingd your retirement savings to pay for your children’s college education or your parents’ long-term care. Your kids can take out student loans if necessary, and you should use your parents own assets to finance their care for as long as possible.
  • Plan Ahead—Keep the sandwich generation trend in mind when you’re projecting what kind of income you’ll need in retirement. Be sure to consider the possibility that you’ll end up in the sandwich generation–one or more of your kids may need to come back home for awhile, raising your monthly costs or maybe delaying your plan to move to a smaller home. And if you have one or more parents still living, count on joining the sandwich generation as your parents may also need your financial help.
  • Assess the Situation Before Sandwich Generation Problems Arise—As early as possible, consider sandwich generation issues. Talk with your parents about their assets, how they want to live as they age, what kind of health care and lifesaving measures they do or don’t want, and who should make legal and medical decisions for them if they are no longer able to handle their own affairs. This may be a difficult and uncomfortable conversation for you and your parents, but answering these questions while there is still time to plan ahead can help you both avoid a lot of sandwich generation problems.
  • Get Insurance—Sandwich generation members need to plan for the future. Look into the viability of long-term care insurance for your parents and yourself. Whether it is right for you depends on several factors, including the cost of the coverage, how long you might need it, and what kind of benefits you want. If you or your parents eventually require nursing home care, however, long-term care insurance could help offset those asset-draining costs.
  • Put Yourself First—Because you’re both a conscientious parent and a dutiful child, you may be tempted to put your own needs after those of your aging parents and adult children if you find yourself in a sandwich generation scenario. Don’t.The only person who can save for your retirement is you. To avoid many sandwich generation problems–and help your parents and your children–you first have to keep your own financial house in order.

Finally, don’t forget that being part of the sandwich generation and caring for others can be hard on your physical and emotional health as well as your financial well-being. To learn how you can take care of yourself while caring for others, see Caregiver Support and Caregiver Resources

Original Article

Home Delivered Meals Help Alleviate Social Isolation in the Elderly

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Posted by Shiloah Kviatkovsky | Posted on 18-04-2013

Category : Health, News and Information, Support

Did you know that being more social can lead to a healthier, longer life?  A recent study from the United Kingdom published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that social isolation increases the risk of early mortality and morbidity.

bigstock-Senior-men-relaxing-in-armchai-13894643The study tracked 6,500 English men and women— ages 52 and older—over the course of seven years, and found that mortality was higher among men and women who reported being more socially isolated and lonely.  Loneliness is thought to be a psychological embodiment of social isolation, and has been linked with an increase in a variety of disease conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, elevated blood pressure, elevated cortisol levels, and an increased inflammatory response to stress.  Social isolation is a measure of social network size and social support, which typically decreases in older age due to impairment of mobility, decreased economic resources, and the death of friends.  There are thought to be two major types of social support: emotional and tangible/instrumental support.  Lack of social support leads to social isolation, which has been linked to an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease, infectious diseases, cognitive deterioration, elevated blood pressure, increased inflammatory markers to stress, and mortality: Social isolation has been more directly linked to early mortality over loneliness.

This study is not the first of its kind, and many have shown similar outcomes.  It is unknown whether social isolation and loneliness directly lead to the deterioration of health, or whether they lead a person to make less healthy lifestyle choices, such as poor diet, inactivity, excessive alcohol consumption, or smoking.  The one thing that is known, is that having social relationships is central to our well-being, and social isolation and loneliness are social conditions that exact significant adverse effects on psychological and physical health, with the costs of these conditions severely impacting our seniors.

Meals-on-Wheels lends tangible and instrumental support in allowing our elderly population to stay well nourished, which allows them to maintain better physical function, mobility, and independence. The wonderful volunteers here at Meals on Wheels also offer the emotional support that some of our participants may need with their smiles and up beat conversations. We at Meals-on-Wheels are not only concerned with feeding our senior citizens, but also with giving them what they need to allow them to lead long, healthy, happy, and functional lives.

Shiloah Kviatkovsky

 

 

 

Shiloah Fuller

Meals-on-Wheels Nutrition Intern

Lend a helping hand

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Posted by Mariel Kalda | Posted on 13-04-2013

Category : Community, Opinions and Editorials, Support

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Grandparents play a very important role in the lives of their grandchildren. They are our mentors and role models. They act as our historians that teach heritage, family traditions and values. They share with us real life experiences, not learned in schools. They always have time to listen as we are growing up. Most of my best memories include my grandparents and I can’t imagine what my life would have been like if they were not a part of it. From getting great goodies like Lucky Charms cereal (Mom hated that) to my first big wheel, my childhood was defined greatly by my grandparents.

Not all children will have these same experiences and some seniors will never be near enough to their grandchildren or great grandchildren to create these memories. In these cases the seniors need our help to reconnect to society. Meals on Wheels San Diego, not only provides food for seniors but companionship to the homebound that may have no other contact during the day. My heart cries out for them. How can each of us help these seniors?

If you have the ability to donate money, just $7.00 per day feeds a senior 2 meals. If you have the ability to donate time, come join our group Visionaries on Philanthropy for Senior Service Saturdays! You can help a senior with yard work, repair and much more. You will create a wonderful connection with some really great people and be making a difference at the same time! Our first Saturday will be June 1st. Contact us for details at 619-278-4041, or visit our meetup for information: http://www.meetup.com/Visionaries-in-Philanthropy-San-Diego/.

Summer Gould Photo

Summer Gould

Are Mom and Dad OK?

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Posted by Hinkle | Posted on 10-11-2012

Category : Community, Health, Support

This month is National Family Caregiver month. We truly honor those that give of themselves, day in and day out, to ensure their elderly Mom and Dad, or a family member in need of assistance, gets the care they need. Often a stressful and unacknowledged job, an estimated 44 million people provide full-time or part-time care for a family member. And yet, caregivers have few tools, few support systems and receive minimal, if any, pay or training for these responsibilities.

In this forum we concentrate on healthy aging and healthy food, as well as issues that affect our senior population. Every day we speak to people who are struggling with the issues of caring for elderly parents or loved ones. They worry daily if Mom and Dad (or grandma and grandpa), are OK.  They may be part of the sandwich generation plagued with guilt, juggling children and aging parental needs. Most often they are overworked, overstressed or far away. They struggle with many difficult issues and challenging conversations balancing love and respect with concern.

Let’s face it, caregiving is such as massive mixed bag of challenges that many believe this matter to be at a crisis level. In fact, TEDMED (www.tedmed.com), a community that comes together both online and in face-to-face four-day sessions, named it their second most important health and medical issue of the year for 2012. The TEDMED conference brings together approximately 1,600 leaders from a wide range of medical and non-medical fields to contribute their knowledge and mufti-disciplinary expertise, with a dash of theater and entertainment. Their focus is to dialog on the “Great Challenges of Health and Medicine”. It is no surprise that challenges such as caregiving, preparing for onslaught of dementia and end of life issues, continue to be topics of concentration, particularly as the great graying of America explodes.

Six of TEDMED’s caregiving/planning experts weighed-in on the top 10 reasons, from their perspective, as to why caregiving is a critical area of concern (http://ow.ly/fbsI3) The Co-Founder of the National Family Caregivers Association (NFCA), Suzanne Geffen Mintz, shared her responses:

  1. Emotional isolation and the lack of support (paid and unpaid) to help a family caregiver balance his/her life
  2. Caregivers neglecting their own healthcare
  3. Lack of recognition and respect of family caregivers by healthcare providers, institutions, and insurers
  4. High rates of caregiver depression
  5. The growing cost of healthcare nationally
  6. The financial burden to individuals and families because of the costs of care
  7. The increase in life expectancy which has come about due to better nutrition and the development of life-saving medications and other medical advances
  8. Delayed parenting, creating the sandwich generation of caregivers
  9. More women in the workforce
  10. Dispersal of families across the country

Certainly Meals-on-Wheels can help ease some of these burdens by providing nutritious meals, socialization and well-being checks from a friendly volunteer. Many of our clients have family that live far away, or no family at all. Still others have families that balance work and children with the care of Mom and Dad and just cannot be there every day or for every meal. Meals-on-Wheels ensures that loved ones are eating right or haven’t taken ill, easing at least some of the stress associated with this balancing act. We do make sure that…Mom and Dad are OK!

Note:  Meals-on-Wheels San Diego’s only requirement is serving a senior over 60 years of age. There are non socio-economic considerations. In fact, we honor the caregivers’ role so much, we will serve caregivers meals too, even if they are under 60 years of age, as long as they are actively caring for a senior!

How do you think we can further support each other in the role of caregiving?

Are you aware of any innovations that support this community?

If you are a caregiver, what are your biggest challenges? We’ll contact the experts to get some answers!

 

 

 

 

Luanne Hinkle

Why You Should Always Listen to Your Grandparents

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Posted by Maronowitz | Posted on 16-09-2012

Category : News and Information, Support

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It’s no surprise that grandparents love to spoil their grandchildren- consistently showering them with toys, clothes and sweets, not to mention plenty of love and affection. Interestingly, more than half of grandparents serve as primary caregivers to their grandkids, according to new data from the University of Chicago. Additionally, novel research is finding it fitting to add grandparents to the role of financial supporter and monetary safety net for their grandkids.

Grandparents are increasingly providing financial support even if they are not the primary caregivers, according to a study released this month by MetLife Mature Market Institute. This means grandma and grandpa are digging into their retirement savings and shelling out money for their grandchildren’s education and basic needs. Although it may put them at a financial disadvantage, grandparents are willing to take the risk as long as the needs of their grandkids are met.

Nationally, there are 7 million grandchildren residing with their grandparents. Plus, 2.7 million grandparents are responsible for the basic needs of one or more grandchildren under the age of 18, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The cause behind this effect seems to be the economy: 43 percent of those surveyed cited the economic downturn as the culprit.

Article by Micole Aronowitz

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