In Russia, there are more and more women caring for children and the elderly at the same time

They do not smoke or drink, they are stressed and not treated

About 12% of middle-aged Russian women take care of the elderly and school-age children at the same time. This conclusion was reached by experts from the National Research University Higher School of Economics and RANEPA in a joint study. Scientists have found that the “sandwich” effect, when a woman is sandwiched between two generations of relatives demanding guardianship, leads to problems. Such women have little time for themselves: they do not have time to eat on time, undergo medical examinations, they have less time for rest and more excess weight. But “sandwiches” smoke and drink less, and oddly enough, they are less prone to chronic diseases.

The Sandwich Generation was first talked about in the US in the 1980s. The term is believed to have been coined by social worker Dorothy Miller. The “sandwich generation” is people aged 45-60 who are forced to take care of both aging parents and growing children at the same time.

Sociologists, demographers and psychologists name three reasons for the appearance of such a social problem. The increase in life expectancy has led to an increase in the proportion of older people who need care. By the way, in the US and a number of other countries, awareness of this phenomenon has caused an increase in the number of nursing homes. The second factor is the reduction in the number of children in families. Previously, in past generations, several grown children shared the care of their parents. The third reason was the increase in the age of women who decided to give birth to their first child, up to 40 years or more.

In Russian specifics, care for both the elderly and children most often falls on women’s shoulders. The survey was conducted among women 30-60 years old. It turned out that in the Russian Federation there are almost 12% of such women (11.7, to be exact). This proportion of middle-aged Russian women who fell into the “sandwich” effect is not so high compared to other countries (in the United States, the figure reached 40% in 2021). But we have more than half of these women (58%) still working full time. The study was conducted among 12 thousand people.

Most of the complaints from women squeezed into a social “sandwich”, the researchers received a lack of free time and constant stress. Also, the result of tireless concern for others was a disregard for their own health: they are not examined on time, they start illnesses. However, some of the respondents also noted the positive aspects of such a lifestyle: the ability to rejoice in the little and the moral satisfaction from serving elderly parents and children. Also, the researchers note, in this social group there were fewer smokers and drinkers than the average according to statistics in the same age and gender.

“It is important to consider not the average effect of being in a sandwich, but its distribution,” says Anatoly Peresetsky, research professor at the HSE Faculty of Economic Sciences. “The size and significance of the effect varies depending on the socio-demographic characteristics of women.” For example, younger working women are more affected by the situation than older women and housewives. Peresetsky also notes that over time, the problem of the “sandwich” in Russia will be exacerbated, “creating increased risks for public health.”

“In Russia, in the conditions of insufficient development of relevant institutions, the problems of “sandwich people” are especially pronounced, says Marina Kartseva, director of the Institute for Social Analysis and Forecasting of the RANEPA. And he emphasizes that if there are any benefits and benefits for women with children in the country, then “the system of long-term care in Russia is at the initial stage of formation and has little to offer.” There are few state boarding houses for the elderly, and they are of poor quality, private ones cost like a wing from an airplane. Not everyone is entitled to social workers, even in Moscow. And how to solve the problem of caring for elderly relatives is not clear.

“Yes, it turns out that I am also included in this sad 12%,” says 51-year-old Margarita from Moscow. – Although, perhaps, our “sandwich”-sandwich” is not the most standard. I gave birth to a child at the age of 39, our child turned out to be a difficult one in terms of neurology. In order for her to go to a certain school, they decided to move closer to the center. In order not to get into mortgages and loans, and at that time I was not working yet, we decided to move in with my husband’s parents. They are old, both were born before the war. More than 10 years have passed, the father-in-laws have become decrepit, and the main concern for them fell on my shoulders. I won’t say that some kind of hopelessness reigns in our family: they move around the apartment themselves, the husband took over most of the lessons with his daughter on weekends. There is also help on weekdays – our family is able to afford a nanny and pay for a cleaning lady once a week. I think there are women who do not have such help. And caring for the elderly is far more burdensome. There are cases when old people fall into dementia, and they are almost hopeless with us ….

But, nevertheless, hand on heart, it takes a lot of strength, moral and physical, to double care for loved ones. For several years I have been dreaming of improving my English and doing my own creative project, but there is neither time nor money for this. My mother is perplexed – why I am not examined, after 50 years it is necessary to do this. I don’t have time to go to the doctors, I get treated only if something already hurts. And with apprehension I think about what will happen in another 10 years, when my mother will also become old. I am the only daughter in the family, there will be no other help.