sandwich generation

sandwich generation

cliché Adults who are responsible for the well-being of both their children and their own parents. (I.e., they are "sandwiched" between the older and younger generations.) After my mother's fall, I knew that I was now in the sandwich generation. She would have to be set up in one of the kids' bedrooms, and they would have to share a room with one another.

See also: generation, sandwich

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

sandwich generation

Middle-aged adults who must help both their children and their aging parents. The term dates from the second half of the 1900s. For example, “I’m in that sandwich generation, raising my three children and taking care of my sick mother.” It is rapidly becoming a cliché.

See also: generation, sandwich

The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer