London, Dec 8 (IANS) Britain’s worst-ever recession is leading to a growth in the ’sandwich generation’ of middle-aged women who are forced to care for their children and parents, a leading thinktank has said.
Middle class women aged 45 to 49 and working class women from 35 to 39 are most likely to find themselves “squeezed” between their responsibility to look after their children and their elderly parents, according to the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR).

The IPPR said that a “Club Sandwich” generation was also emerging as a result of the ageing population, with great-grandparents in their 80s and 90s requiring support from their daughters and granddaughters.

In 2003, four percent of women aged 35 to 69 were found to be caring for youngsters and elderly relatives — around 555,000 people.

“The true figure will now be much higher than that. We know that people are squeezed. They’re squeezed around time, around money, around caring,” Dalia Ben-Galim of the IPPR told The Daily Telegraph.

There are six million unpaid carers in Britain, covering nearly 10 percent of the population, with 62 percent of female carers also holding down a full or part time job.

The British government is expected to announce greater financial support for women in such situations.