Pivot Generation

Defining the Pivot Generation

In contemporary populations with low levels of mortality—such as the United States, Japan, and most of Europe—most children are born into families containing members of three, or sometimes four or even five, living generations of which they are the youngest. Passage to the second generation comes with parenthood (or the birth of nieces and nephews). As they reach later midlife, these second-generation members with one or more living parents or parents-in-law may acquire increasing responsibilities for their aging parents, as well as continuing responsibilities to their children, and assume the role of the pivot on which these generational relationships turn.

The term pivot generation thus refers to people in late midlife who have both older parents and children and responsibilities to both. Some of the first studies to use the term were based on explicit investigation of three generational lineages. In more recent studies, the term pivot generation has come to be used in much the same way as sandwich generation—referring to those individuals sandwiched between older and younger generations both of whom may make demands on their resources.

It has been pointed out that in contemporary Western populations the original conception of the sandwich generation as one with elderly parents and minor children was flawed, as rather few people have both young children and parents old enough to need considerable help. In the future, this may change if ages at first parenthood continue to be postponed.

Similarly, although in three-generation families the pivot generation has been considered to be the middle one, the concept has been extended to include four-generation families. In these families, the third grandparental generation is identified as the pivot with potential responsibilities to their own parents, to their adult children, and their young grandchildren.

Demographic Patterns and Age at Entry to the Pivot Generation

The number of cosurviving generations and the age at which people move to pivot generation status depends on interlinked family courses which are shaped by, and shape, demographic patterns over long periods. The length of a generation—that is, the number of years separating generations—is closely related to the average age at childbearing. In contemporary developed countries, this is around 26–30 (but rising). The depth of generations (number of generations) in families, and in populations, is determined by age of childbearing and by levels of mortality. Results of demographic modeling for England and Wales have shown that only 25% of individuals born in 1915 had a mother alive by the time they reached 60 compared with 50% of individuals born in 1975. For people born in 2000, however, this proportion is projected to fall to 40%. These differences reflect the effect both of improvements in mortality and changes in timing of childbearing. In populations, or population subgroups, with an early age at entry to parenthood over two generations, people may become grandparents in their 40s or even earlier. However, in populations with late ages at first parenthood, many individuals may be aged 60, 70, or even older before they become grandparents. The gap in ages of parents and children (and age gap between spouses)—together with levels of mortality—is also an important determinant of the age at which people experience the death of their parents.

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