Millennials Have Entered Our Sandwich Generation Era and It’s a Lot

I’m a member of the sandwich generation, and I’m not the only one. Data indicates that millions of U.S. adults are right there with me in the sandwich, raising young kids while also having a parent aged 65 or older. 

Yes, this has always been a thing, but millennials are feeling it on a whole new level, especially because many of us had kids later, once our parents were already entering advanced age, among other reasons. And of course, we’re doing it under intensely difficult cultural, systemic, and economic conditions. 

The reality is, many of us are juggling multiple caregiving roles, and the weight of this responsibility falls predominantly on women. Finally, we have some data to confirm this: Research overwhelmingly indicates that women take on more childcare and domestic labor, and more elder care as well. 

For women who are balancing it all — multiple caregiving responsibilities, busy careers, partnerships, and more, finding time to invest in our own health is nearly impossible. And so we forget to schedule our mammograms. We cancel our therapy session when a kid is home sick from school. We forgo exercise when an aging parent needs extra care. We don’t eat well (or enough) because we just don’t have the mental energy to think about what we should reach for. We don’t rest enough — even when we physically lie down, our minds never stop racing. 

It’s a lot. The good news is, we’re finally starting to talk about it, and we can’t afford to stop anytime soon. Nothing changes unless we bring awareness to the issue. And the issue at hand is clear: Millennial women are burning out…and this sandwich generation era many of us are in? It just might be our most exhausting era yet.