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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Question: [b]why is it called the sandwich "generation"?  Doesn't every generation have to deal with both kids and aging parents at some point?[/quote][/b]

No. my generation is unique in that professional women put off having children until much later in life than is culturally normal, historically in the U.S., and worldwide.  So if you are having children in your late 30s and early 40s, as I did, that means that you will, at age 60 be dealing with 1) children in college, tuition expenses, cars, etc., 2) your elderly parents (mine are almost 90) and 3) worrying about your own retirement, all at once - hence the term "sandwich generation" because we are sandwiched in by competing emotional and financial needs.[/quote]

Again, you and a generation as a whole do not necessarily follow the same path. The majority of men in the U.S. are not college-educated and do not delay having children.[/quote]

I think you are missing the point.  It's the women who carry most of the familial burdens that go with being part of the sandwich burden.  I've got young children to deal with, college-aged kids, parents with dementia and money is flying out of the house because we are meeting everyone else's needs at an age when prior generations retired.  My mother had me at age 23, which was considered pushing it by her own parents.  I was the first member of my family to finish college and the first to ever go to graduate school.  My generation was told we women could have it all so we pushed off getting married and having children - some of us too late.  We were told by our gynecologists "oh i have women in their 40s having children" and believed it would be easy.  We had children in late 30s and early 40s.  So we are now paying college tuition in our 60s while taking care of our parents who are in their mid to late 80s and paying to take care of dementia - because people are living longer.  In sharp contrast, my dad retired in his 50s and my mother never worked.  I now take care of them all.[/quote]

I just want to give you some hugs. I see so many like you at my assisted living facility and its EXPENSIVE to get the care that everyone deserves. Its hard.[/quote]

The problem is assisted living and nursing homes provide minimal care and you still have to do a lot for your loved one or they get ignored.  I hope I drop dead over having to go to a facility.[/quote]

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