New Estimates of the Sandwich Generation in the 2013 Panel Study of Income Dynamics

We use the Roster and Transfers Module in the 2013 Panel Study of Income Dynamics to obtain the first estimates of the prevalence of transfers to adult children and parents for United States men and women aged 35-75. This article extends the current understanding of the sandwich generation by comparing recent transfers of time and money to parents and adult children for men and women and across ages between 35 and 75 years of age. Over 30% of individuals with living parents and adult children provide transfers to two generations. The prevalence of transfers does not differ by age and the differences between men and women are small, though statistically significant. Conditional on providing time transfers, women provide more hours of help than men, particularly to their adult children. The number of hours given to children exceeds the number given to parents. These findings are the first to show that both men and women are likely to provide transfers to two generations and that transfers to two generations are common across adult ages. Our findings suggest a need to rethink the notion of the sandwich generation, which has focused on women in late middle age, to include men and women across younger and older ages.