The double squeeze on China's 'sandwich generation'

BEIJING (CAIXIN GLOBAL) – Yin Fan is a single mom in her late 30s. When she was pregnant with her daughter, her father living in another city was diagnosed with the nervous system disorder multiple system atrophy and quickly lost the ability to walk. As the family’s only child, she had to take care of her baby and her father alone.

Yin belongs to China’s first generation under the old one-child policy, those born between 1976 and 1985, also known as the “sandwich generation.” Now they are trapped with obligations for caring for their children and their aging parents, putting them in a financial and emotional bind.