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Almost One-Third of Adult Population Plays Caregiving Role
Caregiving is still mostly a woman’s job, and many women put their careers and financial futures on hold as they juggle part-time caregiving and full-time job responsibilities. That’s the reality reported in the new report, “Caregiving in the U.S. 2009.”
The study found that 29 percent of the U.S. adult population, or 65.7 million people, are caregivers for adults, the elderly and children with special needs, including 31 percent of all households. Those caregivers provide an average of 20 hours of care per week.
Among other findings:
• American caregivers are predominately female (66 percent) and are an average of 48 years old.
• Most care for a relative (86 percent), most often a parent (36 percent).
• Seven in 10 caregivers provide care for someone over age 50. One in seven caregivers provides care, over and above regular parenting, to a child with special needs.
• Caregiving lasts an average of 4.6 years.
Compared with a past study in 2004, both caregivers of adults and their care recipients are older than their counterparts five years ago.
Caregivers also report receiving more help than they were five years ago. Since 2004, the number of caregivers of adults who say they are receiving help from other unpaid caregivers is up 9 percentage points. However, during the same time period, there was a 6 percentage point drop in those who reported their recipient used paid help, which potentially could be linked to the recession.
“More and more people who are 65-plus are providing care to both children and adults,” said Gail Hunt, president and CEO of the National Alliance for Caregiving. “The shift to an older population of caregivers points to a real need for assistance for these individuals from family, friends, employers and social service programs. With more support for caregiving, older and disabled people would be able to do what is so important to them, to remain in their own homes with those they love.”
The study was funded by MetLife Foundation and conducted for the National Alliance for Caregiving in collaboration with AARP by Mathew Greenwald & Associates.
