Norwegian sandwiches

Population ageing changes profoundly the current balance between generations. Governments are responding with policies to
promote later retirement and family care, but these ideals may come in conflict in mid-life when family obligations can be
hard to reconcile with employment. Yet we know little about the prevalence of being “sandwiched”, and even less about the
consequences. This article maps out the prevalence of different forms of family and work sandwiching for the Norwegian population,
and explores adaptive strategies and psycho-social outcomes. The analyses are based on data from the NorLAG and LOGG studies
(n = 15 109, age 18–84). Preliminary findings indicate that 75–80% of the population are located in-between younger and older
family generations in mid-life, the great majority are at the same time in paid work, but comparatively few (8–9% aged 35–45)
have both children and parents in need at the same time, and fewer still (3%) are then also caregivers to older parents. Although
few in proportion of their age group, they add up to a considerable number of persons. Women are more likely to reduce work
in response to family needs than men. Implications of family and work sandwiching for health and well-being are analysed.