Providing valuable insight into different communities’ expectations and associated responsibilities of caring across generations to inform future support provision.
Unpaid Caregiving in the Sandwich Generation
People with caring responsibilities for both older and younger family members, often called the ‘sandwich generation’, carry much of the brunt of unpaid caring. Initiated by GMCVO and being carried forward by 10GM, this joint project was developed in collaboration with policy and practice experts, Manchester Metropolitan University, and the University of Greenwich. It contributes important knowledge about the experiences of sandwich generation carers, aiming to unlock additional caring capacity for the NHS and future support for these under-recognised carers and their communities.
A participatory scoping study of experiences of unpaid caregiving among members of the ‘sandwich generation’ in Greater Manchester’s communities
This exploratory pilot study aimed to understand the experiences of caregiving among the sandwich generation, a group with care responsibilities for both members of the older and the younger generation. Although crucial, unpaid care providers are often overlooked in research, policy, and practice. The work particularly focused on experiences of diverse groups within this category, answering the question: What are the caring experiences and challenges faced by the sandwich generation, and what support is needed?
Sandwich generation carers are trying to reconcile competing expectations, needs, and demands, which can negatively affect their health and well-being. Sandwich generation carers are often under-recognised and exist outside carer support provision. Learning more about the challenges sandwich carers face is important to address their present and future health and well-being needs. It is also important for the NHS because family care is an essential part of social and health care nationally and in Greater Manchester.
The project followed on from existing work
This project originated from Dr Susanne Martikke’s collaborative work at GMCVO and is based on original research developed jointly with Susanne Langer from MMU and Andrew Clark from the University of Greenwich.
Building on established relationships with a wide range of Greater Manchester community groups, they facilitated community conversations guided by participants’ experiences. Initial findings from these conversations will be further explored through one-to-one interviews. The study’s findings and recommendations were shared at two impact events. The project concluded with the publication of a final report, the development of academic papers and conference presentations, and an accessible graphic zine. This work created a solid evidence base, a tested research design, and pathways to impact that will inform future research funding bids and support.
Community engagement and participation were central to the project
We worked collaboratively with our diverse community partners across Greater Manchester to enable effective engagement with sandwich generation carers. We conducted a series of six conversations in community organisations, drawing on the organisations’ knowledge of their communities and planned the format of the conversations to ensure that they take the needs of community members into account and support recruitment of participants.
Participating groups shaped the content of these conversations. Arranging the conversations with existing community groups and, where appropriate, resourcing staff from these organisations to help with facilitating aims to build trust, strengthen connections between communities and research practice, support the community groups, and, crucially, help to reduce the demand on the participants’ limited resources, particularly in terms of time.
The project will advance the two missions of the Greater Manchester Integrated Care Partnership strategy 2022-2028:
The project aimed to strengthen our communities:
Identifying sandwich generation carers and making visible the multitude of taken-for-granted acts of care in Greater Manchester’s diverse communities.
Give recognition to the creativity and resilience demonstrated by sandwich carers and their communities to overcome the challenges of caring under conditions of limited resources.
Value the efforts made by communities, their members, and their organisations to bridge gaps in care provision and support and to sustain networks of mutual care across generations and geographical distances.
Enable diverse communities in Greater Manchester to make an impact in health and social care research and practice through research built on sustained community engagement and participation.
Supporting Our Workforce and Carers:
Extending the knowledge base about Greater Manchester’s sandwich generation carers is a precondition for designing support for them.
Sandwich generation carers are a group of under-recognised unpaid carers in Greater Manchester communities, and their identification has been identified as essential for the realisation of this mission.
Sandwich generation carers are predominantly working-age carers, and better knowledge of their experiences and challenges is essential to promote and support their workforce participation, with immediate and longer-term consequences for Greater Manchester’s economic, health, and social care positions.
Publications
Hiding in plain sight: Stories of multi-generational sandwich carers graphic magazine
“Hiding in Plain Sight: Stories of Multi-generational Sandwich Carers” is a graphic zine that explores and raises awareness about the lives and challenges of sandwich carers—unpaid family carers who support multiple generations, such as children and elderly parents, often simultaneously.
A participatory scoping study of experiences of unpaid care giving among members of the ‘sandwich generation’ in Greater Manchester communities.
This report presents findings from a qualitative scoping study that investigated the situation of sandwich carers: individuals with caring responsibilities for both older and younger family members.
Contact us
This project has now ended, but if you’d like to find out more about it, get in touch with 10GM.
Find out more about our work
Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise and Primary Care Network Partnerships
As part of our Population Health work, 10GM has funded 5 partnerships to become test and learn sites to explore how the VCSE sector and GPs can build lasting relationships that help them work together to tackle health inequality.
Fairer Health For All
10GM is working with GM Integrated Care Partnership to implement the Fairer Health For All Framework.
Data and Intelligence
We’ve partnered with Data Orchard and want to hear your views on data so we can focus on what’s important to help your organisation and the sector use data to meet the needs of people in Greater Manchester.
Content last reviewed on 26 September 2025
