Sandwich Generation

One interesting application of NTA data has been the projection of public transfers. These projections show that current levels of taxation are insufficient to meet future public sector obligations: some combination of benefit cuts and tax increases must occur in the not-too-distant future. Unlike Generational Accounts, NTA projections make specific forecasts of when and how these painful adjustments take place. Therefore, by combining NTA projections with historical data, one can calculate the net tax burden of specific generations – and identify those ill-fated cohorts who are destined to pay more than their fair share of taxes. Estimates of this sort have been carried out for the U.S, France, and Brazil.

There is a second literature that focuses on familial transfers and identifies another type of burdened cohort: the “Sandwich generation” – who face the double challenge of raising children while at the same time providing care for their elderly parents. Unfortunately, we lack measures of time-use in NTA, but it might be possible to arrive at some rough estimates of these types of familial transfers.

This working group will focus on developing techniques which enable us to identify these “sandwich generations” – who faced or will face greater transfer burdens (public and familial) than other generations. Of special interest are short-cuts and hacks to derive the necessary estimates where we may lack sufficient data. The goal is to have estimates of these “Sandwich generations” for your country of interest by the end of the workshop.