The Sandwich Coach
The sandwich generation: these are women or men who care for a younger as well as an older generation at the same time in their lives, and are also active in the labor market.
There are more and more of them, these "sandwichers. After all, we are working longer and longer, and family members are increasingly called upon to care for the older generation.
The project 'The Sandwich Coach' brings together various tools to support the sandwich generation - directly and indirectly. Are you a sandwicher yourself? Are you a manager of people from the sandwich generation? Are you a career counselor? On this page you can download all the free tools.
Thanks to the support of ESF and in collaboration with:
Are you a member of the sandwich generation?
On the website goedgezind.be of the Gezinsbond you will find several articles about the sandwich generation, including testimonies, practical information and background information.
The sandwich generation uses different strategies to combine a double care task with a job. Curious which strategies you use? Then you can fill out a self-test. Via this link you can do this online, but you can also fill out the self-test in pen via the menu booklet. In the menu booklet you will also find several tips & tricks.
Manager or HR person for the sandwich generation?
Are you managers or employers of sandwichers? Do you want concrete tools to make your HR policies more sandwich-friendly? Do you want to grow in a family-supportive leadership style yourself?
Then it is definitely worth downloading the brochure. In it you will find concrete tips and a self-monitoring tool.
Are you a career coach even for the sandwich generation?
As a career coach, do you regularly come into contact with members of the sandwich generation? And are you looking for concrete ideas and tools to deal with their specific situation?
In this manual you will find many concrete methods to discuss the combination of a double care task with a job. The manual includes printable methodologies.
Socio-cultural association or informal care organization?
Do you want tips on how to better reach the sandwich generation and support them appropriately? Or would you like to involve them more in your organization, offer them a valuable leisure activity?
Then here you will find different ideas and information on how to reach this group and convince them of your offer.
Are you interested in the survey results?
A qualitative study based on 34 interviews with members of the sandwich generation brought interesting insights about things that energize sandwichers, as well as what costs them energy.
This research report additionally describes coping strategies in detail.
Interested in the international project?
The project 'The Sandwich Coach' was part of the European ESF project Time4Help. Together with partner Dobre Kadry from Poland and Xamk from Finland, an open access book 'Working Women in the Sandwich Generation: Theories, tools and recommendations for supporting women's working lives' was published by Emerald Publishing in February 2022.
Curious about the Finnish project, or the Polish project?