How did you tease out the fact that these people were caring if they don't self-identify as carers?

Well, in the course of the work that I've done, you know, I've probably spoken to thousands of families over the years.

And particularly in July, we launched a campaign called Faces.

And we had about 4,000 families reach out within about six weeks.

And that just said my goodness, you know, these people aren't writing about policy.

They're writing about what Tuesday looks like.

And when you read enough of them, you stop seeing the individual stories and you start to see a real pattern and a real population.

Before I let you go, what are you hoping comes of this report you've released? What would you like to see changed at a structural level?

How did you tease out the fact that these people were caring if they don't self-identify as carers?

Well, in the course of the work that I've done, I've probably spoken to thousands of families over the years.

And particularly in July, we launched a campaign called Faces.

And we had about 4,000 families reach out within about six weeks.

And that just said, my goodness, these people aren't writing about policy.

They're writing about what Tuesday looks like.

And When you read enough of them, you stop seeing the individual stories and you start to see a real pattern and a real population.

Before I let you go, what are you hoping comes of this report you've released? What would you like to see changed at a structural level?

All right, let's have a drum

roll.

How many people are in the sandwich generation? So today, across Australia, between the ages of 35 and 70, there are 2.43 million people in the sandwich generation.

Now, that is a much bigger number than even you or I thought.

I've been doing this work for nearly 10 years.

I knew it would be a lot bigger than the dusty numbers that were floating around, but I didn't think it'd be that big.

So it is just wonderful to have that figure on the table.

Absolutely meant to cope.

How are we going to define the sandwich generation? So

very tightly, ages 35 to 70 in Australia today that are caring for aging parents.

We asked people if they were doing one of six things at least once a week, and it's not giving mum a call at six o'clock on a Sunday night.

That's really good, really helpful.

But we were looking for more evidence.

So it's about taking your elderly mum or dad to medical appointments, helping them with cleaning or shopping or medical care, stepping in and doing those extra things that your parents can no longer manage on their own.

Now, a lot of people would just call that help.

And now you're actually counted.

Yeah.

Which explains sometimes why people have irrational responses or particular behaviors, 'cause it would be so unsettling.

Um, and I thought the way that they just showed...

It's Anne, isn't it, the main character's name, who Olivia Colman plays.

Like, just all the parts of her life that she had to compromise or put on hold.

You know, that, that's basically, like, the thread that runs through-

Because you never know when you're gonna end up there yourself either, which is our great fear, right?

Mm-hmm.

What is FACES again?

My goodness, hasn't it been quite a, quite an eight days or so since we dropped the campaign? So this is Families for Aged Care Equity and Support.

It's really giving families across the country, there are hundreds and thousands of them, who are stuck in the queue of the aged care waiting system.

You know, they're either trying to figure out the front door and get all the navigation worked out or, or they've done that hard bit, Sarah, and they've got a letter saying mum's got approval, but that doesn't mean she's got the funding yet.

That's another 12-month wait, and that is just horrendous.

Like, the Club Sandwich community have responded hugely to this, and we know why, because they're, they're plugging the gaps-

... stood up to be counted?

So we've had over 2,000 families join us, and you're like, you know what? That's a big lift, you know, to make the commitment to do it.

What's happening?

So I have been doing a whole range of calls in the last couple of weeks, probably over 100, and it's just brought to the very kind of front of my mind how hard it is for families out there at the moment, for the sandwich generation, and how many people are stuck in a queue.

So you can imagine, you've done all the legwork and the paperwork, you've got your elderly mum registered for My Aged Care.

You get the letter, you think, "Great." Finally.

That letter is only telling you your mum is approved.

That letter then goes on to tell you the funding isn't released yet.

Who knows when it'll be released.

Just go to vera.guide/faces, and we'll put that link in our show notes.

Mm

...

in your life.

But I think for Gen Xers in particular, we have relied on alcohol in a particular way.

I'm wondering, like, what brings it up for midlifers? Why do we suddenly start to question it? I can remember maybe two and a half years ago when a certain friend announced to me that he hadn't had a drink for a year, and he wasn't planning to have another one, and I was kinda gobsmacked.

I thought, "Wow, I'm not even sure I could do that." That was the kind of awakening moment for me, and since then I've seen dozens-

[upbeat music]

If you're listening to today's episode and you're thinking, "Uh, no one is asking how I'm going," this bit's for you.