More than two-thirds of sandwich generation adults polled said they worry about financially supporting both aging parents and children.
In a survey by insurance firm Polygenius of nearly 2,370 adults, 29% of respondents said they were very stressed about meeting financial obligations of their families over the next decade, while 37% said they were somewhat stressed about those obligations.
More than half of sandwich generations respondents said they expected the cost of supporting their parents could be as high, if not higher, than supporting their children. At the same time, the respondents also appeared ill-informed and ill-prepared about how to pay for their parents’ care. Nearly half said they would rely on Medicare to pay for long-term care, even though Medicare does not cover it. Just under 20% said they would pay for long-term care themselves or said they had no idea how they would cover their parents’ living costs as they age.
Even more concerning: Nearly a quarter of sandwich generation adults have not discussed the financial and healthcare needs or end-of-life needs wishes of their aging parents.
“What’s really surprising is how seldom people are talking about what this entails, especially with their loved ones, which could explain why many of them also don’t have financial protection, like life insurance, in place,” Policygenius financial expert Myles Ma said in a statement.
The sandwich generation survey makes a 2019 groundbreaking study on middle-income baby boomers in post-retirement even more concerning. In the Forgotten Middle study, researchers from the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) estimated 11 million middle-aged seniors would not be able to afford assisted living or would not qualify for Medicaid-subsidized long-term care. A researcher on that study said it highlights the need for public policies that allow seniors to tap into public funding for housing and care.
Roughly 8.1 million Americans have long-term care insurance, according to the American Association of Long-term Care Insurance. Legislation allowing consumers to tap retirement tax free to pay for long-term care insurance has been introduced in both the U.S. House and Senate.
