Washington — The number of family caregivers in the United States has soared nearly 47% over the past decade, and 60% of them also have paid jobs, a new AARP report shows.
For its annual Caregiving in the US report, the nonprofit organization, in partnership with the National Alliance for Caregiving, used survey responses from nearly 6,900 adults who were looking after an adult relative, adult friend or a child with a disability or complex medical condition over the past year.
The report states that 63 million people are acting as caregivers, or about a quarter of all adults in the country. That’s up from 43 million in 2015.
Findings:
- Nearly a quarter of the caregivers provide at least 40 hours of care a week.
- Almost a third are looking after children while also caring for an adult.
- 25% say they feel socially isolated.
- 25% say they struggle to care for their own health.
Around 68% of the respondents who are employed have access to paid sick leave, up from 58% in 2020 and 52% in 2015. Half of them have access to paid family leave, up from 39% in 2020.
The report outlines key policy areas, such as financial support, workplace protections and access to services, and offers a roadmap to build a more supportive system for family caregivers.
“Family caregivers are a backbone of our health and long-term care systems – often providing complex care with little or no training, sacrificing their financial future and their own health, and too often doing it alone,” AARP CEO Myechia Minter-Jordan said in a press release.
“As our population ages, we must act boldly to support people providing this crucial source of care. At AARP, we’re urging Congress to pass a federal tax credit to provide some financial relief for caregivers who are paying, on average, roughly $7,200 a year out of pocket in caregiving expenses.”
