The sandwich generation is paying for care with its careers
Surveys find most parents caring for kids and aging relatives feel financially behind and have passed up opportunities at work. Here’s how to protect your income.
Photo: Andrea Mimbacas · Pexels License
November is National Family Caregivers Month, and the numbers on those caring for children and aging parents at the same time are sobering, especially for women.
In a Care.com survey of 1,000 U.S. parents of children 14 or younger who also care for senior relatives, conducted by DKC Analytics in June, 77% said they feel financially behind because of care responsibilities and 82% said care costs strain their household even when they earn enough on paper. Mothers averaged 26.8 hours a week of caregiving, compared with 23.8 hours for the group overall, and 61% of mothers said they don’t have enough help.
Careers absorb the hit. Two-thirds said caregiving has dimmed their career ambitions, two-thirds have hidden the full extent of their responsibilities at work and 55% have turned down a promotion, raise or new opportunity. The same share has considered leaving the workforce.
The caregiving often starts without a plan. In a separate Talker Research survey of 2,000 adults for the home care company Visiting Angels, 62% of current and former caregivers said the role came from a sudden need, and 31% felt financially unprepared. Women made up 63% of the caregivers in that survey.
Every promotion you pass up compounds: smaller raises, smaller retirement contributions and, eventually, a smaller Social Security benefit.
Every promotion you pass up compounds: smaller raises, smaller retirement contributions and, eventually, a smaller Social Security benefit.
Action steps: 1. Have the money talk with your parents now, before a fall or diagnosis forces it. Ask where their documents are, what they can afford and who holds power of attorney. 2. Read your benefits guide during open enrollment for dependent care accounts, backup care, employee assistance programs and paid family leave. 3. Ask HR whether you qualify for job-protected leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act before you need it. 4. Keep contributing to retirement, even a small amount, rather than pausing. 5. Track caregiving spending; some costs may be tax-deductible or reimbursable.
