Ten Facts About Caregiving

According to the American Association for Retired Persons (AARP) more than 34 million unpaid caregivers provide care to someone age 18 or older who is ill or has a disability. On average they may spend at least 10 hours a week caring for their loved ones. Many will have to quit their jobs in order to manage the responsibilities.

Caregivers provide an estimated 90 percent of long-term care and they do so without pay, usually spending over $5,000 annually on the care of their loved one. If they are providing care from a distance that number jumps to $8,000.

In a report by the AARP Public Policy Institute, family caregivers provide the equivalent of $450 billion worth of care to their adult parents and other loved ones. This makes them one of the largest and most overlooked pillars of the American health care system.

Here are 10 facts about caregiving, if you know someone providing care for a loved one, thank them from the bottom of your heart.

1. 1 out of every 4 caregivers say family relationships suffer because of caregiving responsibilities.
2. 30 percent of caregivers said they need help keeping the person they care for safe.
3. 61 percent of family caregivers are women.
4. 42 percent of caregivers spend over $5,000 annually caring for a loved one
5. When caring from a distance family caregivers spend over $8,000 annually.
6. 16 percent of caregivers quit their job in order to provide care for a loved one.
7. 58 percent of caregivers provide more than 10 hours of care to a loved one each week.
8. More than 34 million people provide unpaid care to someone 18 or older who is ill or disabled.
9. 67 percent of caregivers say they do not go to the doctor because they put their families need first.
10. 27 percent of caregivers are in the sandwich generation careing for a child as well as their parents.

Are you currently providing care to a loved one? Home health care can help, contact us today.