Text 16 fiftysomethings battle tо balance work and family

1. Read the text below. Think about the people and the situation.

It is not only thirtysomethings who find it difficult to juggle their home and work lives. People in their fifties and sixties are increasingly becoming trapped in а "care sandwich", answering the demands of their own ageing parents and their children and grandchildren while trying to pursue а career.

Many of them suffer as а result, experiencing tiredness, ill-health and lack of leisure, as well as missing out on opportunities for promotion, according to а new study.

June Statham, co-author of the report, which was published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said that the declining number of young people in the population would increase pressure for older workers to remain in paid employment. This in turn would mean that fewer grandparents would be available to look after their grandchildren.

"Staff over 50 can increasingly expect to find themselves pressurized between employers who want them to stay on, working longer hours, and growing pressure to care informally for grandchildren, their own elderly parents, or both," she said.

The report, which surveyed more than 1,000 over-fifties, found that two thirds were in paid employment, six out of ten had living parents and а third had grandchildren. One in three looked after an elderly relative or friend, one in six provided care for а grandchild and one in ten did both.

Few of the employees interviewed wanted to give up their jobs to take on caring responsibilities, although some grandparents were prepared to do so, or to reduce their hours, to look after their grandchildren. Many said their caring role gave them sense of satisfaction, but almost half said that it had made their life more stressful. А third said that it left them with less time for their families and themselves.

Flexible or reduced working hours care top of the list of the workplace policies that employees thought would help them find а better balance.

Ann Mooney, another co-author of the report, said that many older workers realized that giving up working time to provide informal care would affect their pension entitlements, as well as costing them short-term income. The main price of care, however, was perceived in terms of lost personal time and poor health rather than money.

Researchers at the Institute of Education's Thomas Coram Research Unit, who carried out the study, combined an analysis of national labor force trends with а survey of more than 1,000employees aged over 50 and recently retired staff from local authorities in two contrasting areas.

2. Read and try to remember the following words.

fiftysomethings	люди у віці від 50 до 59 років
to battle	боротися, намагатися
to juggle	маніпулювати
increasingly	все більше i більше
to trap	ловити капканом
demand	вимога
ageing	що старішає
to pursue	продовжувати
lack	брак, відсутність
miss out an opportunity	втрачати шанс, сприятливу можливість
promotion	просування по службі
declining	що зменшується, скорочується
available	наявний, придатний
provide care	доглядати (хворого)
flexible	гнучкий; вільний(про графік)
to come top	очолювати
entitlement	право (на пенсію, допомогу)
income	прибуток, заробіток
to perceive	сприйматися, відчуватися

3. Discuss the information you have learned from the text with your fellow-students.

4. What do you think the writer’s main points are?

5. Now complete the statements by choosing the answer from the text you have finished.

1. People in their fifties and sixties are increasingly becoming _______________________________________________

2. Few of the employees interviewed wanted to ___________ _______________________________________________

3. Many said their caring role gave them sense of__________ _______________________________________________

4. Flexible or reduced working hours care top of the list of the workplace policies that employees thought would help them _______________________________________________

5. The main price of care, however, was perceived in terms of lost personal time and _____________________________ _______________________________________________.