New LegalShield Research: More Than Half of Sandwich Generation Workers Are Managing a Parent's Care While on the Job
New data also finds that while 87% of HR leaders say caregiving affects their workforce, fewer than 4 in 10 feel confident their benefits address it
Since 2022, elder care-related requests for legal assistance to LegalShield provider firms have more than doubled, up 108%, making it the number one area of law across the network. The people filing those requests are not in their 70s. They are working adults in their 40s and 50s, calling about their parents. Two new LegalShield surveys put hard numbers to what this generation is carrying and how it is showing up in the workplace.
More than half of working adults between 40 and 60 years old are actively coordinating a parent’s care right now. Most are doing it while holding down a job, absorbing the financial cost themselves, and navigating legal decisions they did not know were coming. Nearly half of LegalShield’s elder care callers are Millennials and Gen X members asking about powers of attorney, healthcare directives, conservatorships, wills, and estate planning. Often for the first time, often in the middle of a crisis. The research suggests that for many families, the gap between caring for a parent and having the legal authority to help them does not become visible until it is already too late.
