Date of Submission
Spring 2020
Academic Program
Sociology
Project Advisor 1
Yuval Elmelech
Abstract/Artist's Statement
Drawing on previous studies, this paper explores a particular population—sandwich generation women—and the struggles and demands that they face between work, children, and elderly parents. I conducted in-depth interviews of 16 women from this demographic group, and analyzed their experience using theories of the second shift, emotional labor and the sandwich generation. The women that I interviewed were both members of the sandwich generation, meaning that they took care of both their children and elderly parents, as well as “care workers” themselves in the work force. New to past research, I seek to understand whether women of this demographic group experience a “third shift” of work, taking care of their elderly parents alongside other demands, using the evidence provided by my participants. Importantly, I attempt to understand how sandwich generation mothers manage demands in multiple spheres. My findings confirm previous studies and explore new evidence surrounding the possibility of a “third shift” for sandwich generation mothers.
Open Access Agreement
On-Campus only
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Ruehle, Kate L., "Taking Care; the Third Shift and the Women Covering it" (2020). Senior Projects Spring 2020. 6.
https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/senproj_s2020/6
This work is protected by a Creative Commons license. Any use not permitted under that license is prohibited.
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