You mention being the Sandwich Generation upon which the elders above you rely.
Just curious, do you know what the birth rates are like in Indonesia?
In a lot of the world they are down. Replacement rate is 2.3 per man/woman.
Two for each person, and then the .3 is supposed to make up for negative things that may happen in some percentage.
In the West the govt's have this social system that's supposed to provide for the elderly in their retirement(it's supplemental rather than anyone actually being able to live off it) and people pay into it every week they work.
But it's a Ponzi scheme, and that money doesn't get set aside for you in a saving account. We have more elderly than children or teens, and so there has been talk about raising the taxes to make up for the deficit. The elders are overwhelmingly in favor of doing this, supposedly. I don't know this for sure, but it's what I have heard.
Meanwhile the cost of homes, rent, food, vehicles, utilities is much higher than it has ever been, and the wage growth vs. the inflation/cost increase is not equal.
Most feel that the elders had a much better economy with a lot more living wage jobs available vs. today.
But I can't help but notice that there's sort of that same dynamic at play. Where the elders are relying on the younger people.
This is why I was curious about the birth rates in Indonesia.
Actually, Indonesia's birth rate has actually been declining last year. Based on last year statistic it's 2.13 children per woman and CBR of 16.18 births per 1,000 population. But we're still the 4th most populous country in the world with more young people in our pyramid and our life expectancy has increased as well.
Also the unlike the west, over here many are working in informal sectors and they are not covered by any retirement and social security programs. When it comes to Indonesia, supporting elder parents/family are more like cultural and social obligation rather than simply a consequence of an inadequate pension system.
Yes I understand that they are separate situations, but I thought perhaps maybe they were driven by a similar underlying thing. Clearly not if there are plenty of young people.
You mentioned being part of Sandwich Generation, and so I was wondering what is unique about this generation that there is more pressure to perform on the younger members of the family? As you said it's cultural/social norm so I was wondering why this name is given to this generation.