What is the sandwich generation?

The definition, the numbers and a place to start when your family needs you on both sides.

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A grandmother, mother and daughter baking together at the kitchen counter
Three generations making something together. Photo: Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash.

25%

of U.S. adults

In the sandwich generation. Pew Research Center, September 2025 survey.

54%

of adults in their 40s

In the sandwich generation. Pew Research Center, September 2025 survey.

45%

of adults in their 50s

In the sandwich generation. Pew Research Center, September 2025 survey.

How many people are in the sandwich generation?

A quarter of U.S. adults (25%) are in the sandwich generation, according to a Pew Research Center survey from September 2025, up slightly from 23% in 2021. [1]

What age is the sandwich generation?

Adults in their 40s are the most likely to be sandwiched: Pew Research Center reports that 54% of Americans in their 40s have a parent 65 or older and a child who depends on them. Pew also reports that 45% of adults in their 50s are sandwiched, up from 36% in 2021, partly because more people in their 50s now have a living parent 65 or older. [1]

Is being in the sandwich generation hard?

It can be a heavy load of time, money and worry. But Pew Research Center also found that sandwiched adults were more likely than other adults to say they were very satisfied with their family life (48% vs. 43%). [1]

Why does it matter for your parent's health?

Many sandwiched adults are watching a parent's world get smaller. The CDC says social isolation and loneliness can raise the risk of heart disease and stroke, type 2 diabetes, depression and anxiety, dementia and earlier death, and that older adults are more at risk for social isolation. [2]

What helps?

Pick one next step, not a whole new life plan. Start with a guide, work out who can help and use a tool to make the next conversation more concrete.

When a parent starts slowing down →The early signs, the first talk and how to share the work before it lands on one person.Paying for care without wrecking your retirement →What Medicare and Medicaid really cover, and how to protect your own future while you help.Can Mom keep living at home? →A room by room look, the small fixes that matter and how to know when it's getting harder.Keeping their days full, not just safe →Safety matters. So does a reason to get up. How to bring back hobbies, people and a weekly rhythm.Try the Squeeze Score →Try the Sibling Load Balancer →Try the Parent Readiness Score →Try the Care Cost Calculator →Read: Your dad stopped leaving the house. Here's how to get him curious again. →Find your local Area Agency on Aging through Eldercare Locator →

Questions people ask

Adults balancing support for an aging parent and their children. Pew's measure counts adults with a living parent 65 or older who also have a child under 18 or financially supported an adult child in the past year.

Sources

  1. 1.Pew Research Center: More than half of Americans in their 40s are sandwiched between an aging parent and their own children (August 27, 2026)
  2. 2.CDC: Health Effects of Social Isolation and Loneliness

For information only. Not medical, legal or financial advice. Talk to a professional about your family's situation.