Welcome to the ‘sandwich generation’

The number of middle-aged people caring for their children or grandchildren and looking after their elderly parents – the ‘sandwich generation’ – is likely to grow as projections of a rapidly ageing society were released by the Office for National Statistics. Nearly one in four of the population will be over 65 in less than 25 years, and the number of those over 85 would more than double. There are also additional problems arising from the breakdown of families increasing the number of older single people and the reduction of informal caring.