11 Dec 2025

Practical ways to support the sandwich generation

Demographic shifts are creating more workers in the so-called sandwich generation, responsible for childcare as well as eldercare.

The “sandwich generation” are adults caring for both children and ageing relatives, and it’s a group that has grown dramatically in size and significance over the past decade.

Demographic shifts mean more professionals are feeling squeezed between the pressures of dual care and demanding careers, often at the exact point they are expected to perform at their peak.

“In 2023, the UK workforce reached a tipping point,” said Stephanie Leung, founder of KareHero. “It was the first time in history that the UK workforce would look after more adult dependents than child dependents.”

With the birth rate shrinking, she warned that “the largest workforce over the next decade and a half will be those over 40 who are predominantly coming into a caring role in the lifetime of their career. So if we ignore this, we are ignoring it at our peril.”

The growing burden on caregivers

Data shows how intense this pressure has become. In the UK, the sandwich generation has surged from 1.9 million in 2015 to 2.8 million in 2025, a 47% increase, now representing 8.5% of the workforce (Wecovr, 2025).

Weekly care hours have risen from 17 to 22 hours, the equivalent of taking on an additional part-time job. At the same time, almost 3 million people in the UK working population are now out of work due to long-term sickness.

Leung added that “someone is having to look after these people and they’re most likely those in working age … juggling work and care. And if they are not supported, the employer … risks losing some of the best talent that this country has to offer.”

That pressure is felt keenly by people like Scott Underwood (pictured), a 55-year-old health and safety manager and father of two. His caring journey began about five years ago when his father had three strokes, followed by his mother developing Alzheimer’s.

For years, he didn’t see himself as a carer at all: “Up until that point, I was just a son looking after my parents,” said Underwood. It was only when hospital staff referred to him as a carer and “started offering privileges” that he began to recognise the role he’d taken on.

His experience shows what it means to be truly “sandwiched”. “I am a father. Yes. I have two children,” he said, describing the dual responsibility of raising his kids while caring for two parents with complex, deteriorating conditions.

The impact has been profound: “Looking after both my parents over the five years has been physically and mentally demanding whilst also trying to fit in work and my own family life.”

He spoke candidly about burnout: being signed off work for three months, seven months of counselling, and the breakdown of his marriage. “It’s so tiring looking after elderly parents when you’re trying to fit in work, your own family … you’re trying to run two houses … as well as your own health. And that always really struggles,” he said.

For Underwood, the emotional difference between caring for children and caring for parents is stark: “With children, there’s a lot of excitement … seeing them grow up. With your parents … there's sadness because you know that that’s the end of their life,” he said.

It is a powerful illustration of the invisible load many sandwich-generation workers carry into every meeting, every project, every performance review.

The business case for support

Leung added that caring is not a marginal issue, but a statistical near-certainty: “By the time you are 50, you have 50% chance of either being a carer or being cared for.”

Most carers are still women, she said, “however, more and more men are becoming carers. Women tend to become carers in their forties, and men tend to become carers in their fifties.”

These are precisely the ages at which many employees hold critical institutional knowledge and leadership responsibility.

Research from REBA Global shows that 70% of employee caregivers struggle to balance work and care, leading to 27% reducing their hours and 16% turning down promotions or leaving roles.

Underwood summed up the organisational risk plainly when he reflected on his own burnout and the pressure on senior staff: employers needed to recognise that their “more experienced and more senior members of staff … may suddenly become carers for their elderly parents. And they are your key members of staff.”

Practical solutions that make a difference

Evidence and lived experience converge on a common set of interventions that actually help the sandwich generation:

Flexible work that truly flexes: Flexibility in location and hours matters, but so does predictability and understanding when emergencies happen – like the day Underwood had to leave a work meeting after a neighbour phoned to say his mother had walked off down the street and his father had followed, confused and barefoot. Employers that build this reality into their expectations, policies, and manager training are better placed to retain people like him.
Practical navigation support, not just “goodwill”: One of Underwood’s biggest challenges was “you only know what you know”. Negotiating the care system – financial assessments, medical support, social care, and providers – was “very convoluted and confusing.” When his company added KareHero to its benefits, he had access to a shortlist of four care companies that met his parents’ needs. That freed him up to keep working and “actually spend more time with my parents” and his own children, rather than spending evenings on admin and research.
Mental health and burnout prevention: Underwood described his burnout as “very real,” resulting in long-term sick leave and therapy, all while continuing to care. Employers can reduce this risk with access to counselling, resilience and stress support specifically tailored to carers, and clear signals that using these services is encouraged, not penalised.
Normalising the carer label and conversation: Normalising the fact that staff are carers, through awareness campaigns, inclusive language, and leadership role-modelling, helps them recognise their situation earlier and seek help sooner.
Designing for women – and not just women: With women more likely to become carers in their forties and men in their fifties, a life-stage lens is essential. Policies like carer’s leave, eldercare support, and flexible working should be positioned for all genders and all ages.

The sandwich generation is no longer an edge case – it is a structural feature of today’s workforce. “The UK cannot grow unless employers take care seriously,” warned Leung.

Organisations that build practical, flexible, and life-stage-aware support – combining policy, culture, and services like KareHero – will be the ones that retain their most experienced people, prevent burnout, and build a genuinely sustainable workforce for the future.