The term ‘Sandwich Generation’ was first introduced in 1981 by Dorothy Miller and Elaine Brody. Like a sandwich where there are two slices of bread that squeeze a piece of meat in the middle, the Sandwich Generation is a generation still within the productive age who bears the burden of three generations, i.e. oneself (like the meat as the source of the productive income), the future generation as the children and the previous generation as the parents, including in-laws, grandparents and others (like two slices of bread above and below.)

The Kompas media Team did a survey on sandwich generation in Indonesia and published the results on Sep 8th, 2022. They found out that across the socioeconomic status, most are willing to accept the responsibility for their parents. Even in the low socioeconomic status, only 2.5% says that they feel burdened, 71.2% said they were not burdened and 26.3% said it was just normal. “Supporting the life or providing assistance to parents is considered a noble act. A child is obligated to return the favors to their parents and family.”

Although this condition is accepted by many people, the effects of this sandwich generation is inevitable, especially financially. Ideally, a family needs to manage its finances with a certain scheme/budget. For example, 40% of their income is budgeted for living expenses, 30% for consumptive expenses, 20% for investment and 10% for other expenses. However, such a budget may not be suitable for everyone. Forget about planning a retirement fund, they can't even save each month. Want to invest? Forget it. Even for a simple family recreation, it can only be done once a year or even longer. Can you relate? 

In the midst of these conditions, on social media they are exposed to many *flexing* (showing-off lifestyles) from many people. Of course in their hearts they wanted to do that too, but couldn't. Especially when they think about the responsibilities to their parents and children as the sandwich generation. Tantan Hermansah, a sociologist from the Jakarta State Islamic University said in the 8 Sep 2022 edition of Kompas, "I'm worried that the accumulated pressure experienced by the sandwich generation could explode into social frustration."

This condition can then lead to a cycle of economic deadlock. If the current sandwich generation does not plan better, when they enter retirement they will become a burden for their children who will then be the next sandwich generation. This is the chain of sandwich generation continuing to capture the next generation.

Below are 6 tips you can do to break free from the chain of sandwich generation so that your kids won’t experience it:

If you feel like this is you and you want to break free from the chain of the sandwich generation, please contact us (Click here) or leave a comment below.