‘Sandwich’ Generation Needs Support

A number of individuals belonging to the low-income bracket of the sandwich generation admit that they can hardly save, let alone invest. This generation needs support to reduce their economic burden.

KOMPAS/PRIYOMBODO (PRI)

Workers leave Sudirman station, Central Jakarta, to their respective workplaces, Friday (11/19/2021). Not a few workers in Jakarta are the sandwich generation, namely those who have to work to support their families and at the same time have to support the economy of their parents.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The low-income “sandwich” generation needs support to reduce their economic burden. That way, the sandwich generation will have space to manage their own lives and design the future of their families.

A number of individuals belonging to the low-income bracket of the sandwich generation admit that they can hardly save, let alone invest. Their income is used up to cover basic needs for themselves, their families and their parents. Therefore, they do not dare to dream of being able to improve their welfare. In fact, dreaming of owning a home is too much.

Their current priority is how to increase their income by working even harder. At the same time, they have to keep expenses as low as possible.

"I realized that I had to work harder to live," said Fahmi, a vegetable trader in Malang City, East Java, on Wednesday (7/9/2022).

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In one day, Fahmi can earn Rp 150,000 (US$15.07)-Rp 200,000. Most of this income is used to meet the needs of his wife and toddler on the same day. In addition to that, he has to pay Rp 750,000 per month for a boarding house and send Rp 300,000 and Rp 500,000 per month to his parents and in-laws, respectively. With the increase in the price of fuel, he foresees that his spending will only increase.

Eka “Cheka” Tri Mustika (28) also feels increasingly pressured by the economic burden she must bear. Her monthly salary as an employee at a company in Jakarta is around Rp 5.5 million. A total of Rp 3 million was spent on food for her, her sister and her parents. The rest is used to pay for the house rent and the cost of therapy for her father who had a stroke.

Cheka tries hard to set aside money to save every month. "The maximum that can be saved is only Rp 200,000 per month," said Cheka, who is trying to increase her income from selling pulses.

I realized that I had to work harder to live.

She hopes one day she can have her own house. However, that dream seems out of reach because she cannot afford even the cheapest mortgage.

Now, she can only hope that one day the government will make a policy of cheap mortgages for people like herself. "For example, you can pay in instalments of under Rp 1 million per month and a lowdown payment," she said.

Unlike Cheka, Dedi Ardila (28) does not even dare to dream of owning a house of his own that he cannot afford. Right now, he only dares to dream of saving a small portion of his salary.

KOMPAS/PRIYOMBODO (PRI)

Ike Noorhayati Hamdan, a financial planner works from her husband's business room in Pondok Ranji, South Tangerang, Banten, Tuesday (16/11/2021). Ike learned to be a financial planner because in the past she had difficulty managing family finances, including supporting her parents and supporting her younger brother. Now most of Ike's clients are the sandwich generation who have more or less the same problems she had.

Dedi, who works as an outsourced office boy in Jakarta, earns Rp 4.4 million per month. Every month he pays for the food of six people in his house: himself, his children, his wife, two in-laws and his brother-in-law who do not work. The rest is used to meet other needs, including transportation and sending Rp 200,000 per month to his parents.

Sociologist from the State Islamic University (UIN) Jakarta, Tantan Hermansah, believes that the low-income sandwich generation really needs the support of a number of parties to lighten the burden on their shoulders.

At the state level, the government needs to provide incentive schemes for this underprivileged generation, especially incentives that can increase self-capacity. One way is to optimize vocational training centers (BLK) in collaboration with economic institutions or companies where they work. That way, they have the opportunity to increase their self-capacity, career and income.

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In addition, educational and religious institutions can contribute by providing a new interpretation of the deep-rooted understanding in society that children are an "investment" of the parents. With this understanding, it is as if extended families have the right to enjoy the income of children who are already working. In fact, the children's income is not necessarily enough to provide for them. "That the children are willing to share should be considered a bonus," he said.

A clinical psychologist at the Institute of Applied Psychology, the University of Indonesia, Anna Surti Ariani, explained that there are two things that the sandwich generation can do to reduce their mental burden. First, the sandwich generation needs to accept the fact that their parents are no longer productive and need help, while their children also need to be taken care of.

Second, they should set limits on the extent to which they can help. For that, there needs to be communication with related parties, such as parents. They can explain honestly how much they can help. Setting these boundaries is important so that they have time to take care of themselves. (DWA/LSA/NWA/DIA/BSW)

This article was translated by Kurniawan Siswo.