We are an aging population. And, caring for older adults is costly. Not surprisingly, family caregiving is becoming increasingly common and challenging. It is unreasonable to assume that most older Americans have family and friends who will be able to care for them when they are unable to care for themselves and still make ends meet. Congress should step in to put in place systems and protections that ensure older adults get the care they need without overburdening family and friends.
Anne Helen Petersen reports for Vox that nearly 42 million people in the US are volunteer caregivers for adults over 50. They represent almost 17 percent of the population. Many of these caregivers are so stretched that they are hard-pressed to make ends meet.
Nearly three in ten (28 percent) caregivers are unable to save money. More than one in five caregivers are assuming more debt and/or have no short-term savings. More than one in ten of them cannot pay for essentials such as rent and food.
More than one in four caregivers are young, either millennials or Gen Z. Increasingly, they provide care in their homes.
The workload for caregivers has grown in just ten years in part because people are living longer. Caregiving involves cooking and cleaning as well as medication management, bathing and providing transportation. Only three in ten caregivers pay others to help with caregiving.
Caregiving takes a huge toll on people’s mental and physical health as well as finances. And, there’s no system in place to help caregivers. Most people don’t even think of themselves as caregivers. They think of their work as helping out their loved ones.
Family caregivers are effectively invisible, which makes their situation all the harder. They often step in to help because they see themselves as having no choice. AARP believes more than half of them find themselves in that situation. Paid caregiving is unaffordable. Caregiver coordination is also taxing.
What is to be done? One elder care expert believes that the federal government should at the very least manage a web site that details caregiver resources by state and community. More money should be available for Area Agencies on Aging, as well. These “Triple As” provide resources to older adults.
What is really needed is a comprehensive federal long-term care program. The budget reconciliation bill allocates money for community and home-based services for people with Medicaid but not for people with Medicare. That is a beginning, but not enough.
We also need to improve nursing home care and pay caregivers better wages and benefits for the work they perform.
Here’s more from Just Care:
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