Sandwich Generation Plagued By Disability?
One study by UCLA researcher Teresa E. Seeman, PhD, and colleagues, as reported on by WebMD, indicates a new trend among aging Baby Boomers: disability. The findings indicated that one in five 60-somethings need help with basic daily activities -- up from 13% just a decade ago. Various disabilities are up 40% to 70% in 60- to 69-year-olds.
"Our results have significant and sobering implications," Seeman and colleagues say. "To the extent that persons currently aged 60 to 69 years are harbingers of likely disability trends for the massive baby-boomer generation, the health care and assistance needs of disabled older Americans could, in the not so distant future, impose heavy burdens on families and society."
The article went on to say that, compared with those surveyed in 1988-1994, 60-somethings surveyed in 1999-2004 were:
- 70% more likely to have difficulty walking from room to room, getting in and out of bed, and/or eating and dressing.
- 70% more likely to have difficulty doing chores, preparing meals, and/or managing money
- 50% more likely to have difficulty walking a quarter mile and/or walking up 10 steps without rest
- 40% more likely to have difficulty stooping, crouching, or kneeling; lifting or carrying 10 pounds; and/or standing from an armless chair.
According to the National Family Caregivers Association, more than 50 million Americans provide care for a chronically ill, disabled or aged family member or friend during any given year, and that number is growing. Adult children are often first in line to care for their aging parents. Many of those adult children are still raising children of their own, making an entire "Sandwich Generation" of family caregivers. But given these new findings, is the sandwich generation already too stretched? What do you think?