That Intergenerational Report scared the bejesus out of me. Here's what frightened me most.

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It takes a bunch of us for granted. And that bunch of us, mostly women, is sick of being taken for granted. Unpaid care, it says, will continue to make a "substantial social contribution, supporting families, communities and the formal care system".

Which would be fine if we didn't also have to do that unpaid care on top of the huge amount of work needed to keep our collective heads above water.

As The Parenthood's Georgie Dent said at the National Press Club this week: "A generation ago, a single income could stretch to a house, a family and a retirement. That model worked because one adult, almost always a woman, supplied enormous amounts of care for free. Free for everyone except her."

But a lot has happened since that generation was having its three kids. As Dent explained it, in 2003 about 58 per cent of couple families with children under 15 had both parents in paid work (that was my family, with kids aged 18, 15 and 13). Now, it's 73 per cent. That's because families can't manage on just one income.

But the care doesn't get any less. And according to the Intergenerational Report, the demand for unpaid carers is likely to increase. And I don't know how we are going to manage our futures.

When I was a young mum, I had the good fortune to lose my job. I was sad about the job because I loved it but I had a horrible boss who had zero empathy for someone with three kids. I'd run out the door to pick up my kids from childcare and he'd say, without fail, "Thanks for dropping by". Even though my work always got done. Even though he knew I would work way........

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