Sandwich generation in Brazil: reality or myth?

Abstract

The “Sandwich Generation” (sg) can be defined as a generation of people who are caring for their aging parents while supporting their own children, predominantly composed of women. The purpose of this study was to identify and characterize the sg in Brazil, based on National Sample Household Survey of 2008. We analyzed women that have to deal with the potential demands of coresident mothers and children. There was a higher prevalence of potential simultaneous demands at the household for women aged 40 to 49 years. This group was defined as SG. The results show that to be sandwiched does not represent the typical role of women in the middle ages, since characteristics such as education, labor force participation and race, which are positively associated with the presence of children under age 14 at the household are those negatively associated with the presence of mothers with disability, leading to low prevalence of both situations simultaneously.