Caring Across Generations

Profile

Caregivers who provide care for both elders and children or adults with disabilities face particular challenges.

Project Directors (co-PIs): Erica Di Ruggiero and Ito Peng

Sometimes called the “sandwich generation,” people who care for multiple dependents from different generations — young children, adults with disabilities and chronic conditions, and those with complex needs related to aging — have complicated and stressful lives. Although these caregivers currently constitute a small proportion of Canada’s population, current socio-demographic trends suggest that it is a growing population. This research seeks to understand how this changing context of care is shaping the lives and mental health of these caregivers with multiple care responsibilities. It will use an intersectionality framework to understand the emotional well-being and mental health impacts of multiple family care responsibilities. In doing so, it will shed light on the workings of cumulative stress and identify clear areas in need of policy intervention to alleviate the care burden for those among us who feel it most profoundly.

Caring Across Generations is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.