Cecily O'Connor
RedwoodAge.com

Baby boomers are often described as the sandwich-generation: caring for elderly parents while raising their own families.

Now the subsequent financial pressure of that care has spurred a new nickname to explain the tug of war: pivot spenders.

Pivot spenders provide financial support to elderly and retired parents, as well as adult children over 18 on an ongoing basis, according to the Nielsen research company and Age Lessons, a boomer think-tank. About 22 percent of boomers contribute to the financial support of a senior parent, while 24 percent help out an adult child not in college.

“This finding adds to the already considerable purchasing clout of the baby boomer segment,” said Todd Hale, senior vice president of Nielsen Homescan & Spectra. “In addition to buying for their live-in family, many Boomers are shopping for multiple households including their aging parents and empty-nest children."

The pivot spender study determined that almost 40 percent of Boomers shelled out more than $1,000 annually to help their elderly parents, while 56 percent contributed at least that amount to help an adult child as they established an independent life outside the family home. The top two areas of financial need for both older parents and adult children were groceries and housing.

Boomers, who account for at least 55 percent of U.S. consumer spending, may prove to be a more influential retail factor than before, said Laurel Kennedy, Age Lessons president. Their spending power "opens up a host of cross-merchandising possibilities for retailers, now that they know boomers are stocking the pantry for seniors and millennials.”

Other areas where senior parents and adult children were likely to receive financial assistance included medical care, clothing and car expenses, the study found.

The study also found that, in general, the propensity to provide financial support increased along with the financial ability to do so, with the wealthiest households the most likely to lend a hand to both their parents and adult children

The Nielsen Homescan PanelViews study was fielded in March 2007 and based on responses from 21,830 baby boomers.