The vast majority of people providing elder care to family members are married women -- many of them working moms. So at the same time we're managing young children and a busy household, we're also starting to take on a heavier load with our parents, by helping with errands, paperwork and other elder care. That's a phenomenon that brought us the name "the sandwich generation."
Elder care, simply put, is caring for aging individuals. For working moms, elder care most often means helping aging parents or parents-in-law with errands, laundry, household chores and transportation to medical appointments. It can also extend to learning enough about home health care to give medications, prepare meals and even give sponge baths.
What is elder care? It's helping your older family members with personal, medical, financial and household needs as they are increasingly unable to help themselves. And if we're lucky, giving elder care now will mean that we receive it ourselves when we need it.
