MULTIGENERATIONAL CAREGIVING AND WELL-BEING - THE MYTH OF THE BELEAGUERED SANDWICH GENERATION

It has been suggested that middle-aged adults are becoming burdened wi th the responsibilities of caring for both parents and children as a r esult of changing social and demographic trends. Consequently, there i s concern that this burden of multiple family responsibilities may adv ersely affect caregivers' well-being. Using a national sample of marri ed persons, this study examines how the assumption of multigenerationa l caregiving responsibilities affects caregivers' well-being. It is fo und that this change in family responsibilities has little to no effec t on caregivers' well-being, even after considering factors including caregivers' gender and weekly hours of labor force employment.