The Caregiving Crisis
THE CAREGIVING CRISIS
GET STARTEDEach day, millions of American workers also provide care for a child, a spouse, a parent, or loved one. Since this care work is unpaid, these caregivers often face additional economic pressure and challenges when balancing their work and caregiving responsibilities.
The Caregiving Crisis
Caregiving is a significant part of our society and our culture. Most people will provide care for a loved one at some point in their lives. Small employers feel the weight of the caregiving crisis in unique ways and need to be ready to address the consequences of changing demographics and understand the impact of caregiving on the business community.
What is caregiving?
Caregiving is unpaid assistance to a loved one who is 18 or older. Caregivers may care for their parents, in-laws, spouses, adult siblings with special needs, or others. Care ranges from simple tasks, such as picking up medicine or taking people to doctor’s appointments, to more complex ones, such as administering medicine or performing physical therapy. Each caregiver’s story is unique, but many experience both the challenging and rewarding nature of the role.
One in six employees is a caregiver
According to a 2015 AARP study, one in six employees
is a caregiver for an adult family member and spends on average 20 hours a week providing care. This means approximately 24 million family caregivers are working either part-time or full-time while also providing care.
Who is the average caregiver?
It may be surprising to hear that men are 40% of the caregivers
providing unpaid care for an adult loved one. And over 25% of family caregivers are Millennials between 23-38 years old. Yes, 60% of family caregivers are women, often over 50 themselves--but that stereotype doesn’t tell the whole story.
Many caregivers are a part of the “Sandwich Generation”: those who provide care for two generations of family members at one time. Typically, these caregivers have to balance taking care of young children and elderly parents in addition to their responsibilities in the workplace.
According to a 2019 Harvard Business Review report, 73% of all employees report having some type of current caregiving responsibility. This can fall anywhere in the care spectrum – from childcare through eldercare.
The challenges of caregiving
Caregiving has a dramatic impact on the finances, well-being, and workplace productivity of caregivers. While time management is one of the largest challenges a caregiver faces, there are direct costs that come from caregiving.
According to a 2016 AARP study, on average, caregivers pay $6,954 in out-of-pocket
expenses per year. Caregivers often have to foot the bill for medicine, groceries, healthcare, travel expenses, and housing maintenance for their loved one. Additionally, many caregivers will leave the workforce early to focus solely on providing care. Analysis by MetLife
calculated that this amounts to $324,000
of lost wages for women and $283,000
of lost wages for men.
Why does this matter now?
As baby boomers age, more Americans will have to provide care, increasing the ratio of caregivers to care recipients. By 2034, the number of people 65 years and older will be greater than the number of those under the age of 18.
Older Americans are being diagnosed with more chronic illnesses than ever before. A recent study from the National Alliance
for Caregiving
stated that 90% of people over the age 65 will have one or more chronic conditions by the year 2030. These chronic illnesses require caregiving support in the home and will impact the number of caregivers needed to support the increase in older Americans.
What is the impact of caregiving?
The impacts of the caregiving on the larger U.S. economy are felt in every industry and by every sector. In 2013, the value of unpaid care work was estimated to be $470 billion. As caregiving continues to become more common, the value of this caregiving will increase.
Employers feel the full effects of caregiving through productivity loss and employee transitions. A 2013 AARP report
stated that the cost of replacing employees who have to leave the workplace due to eldercare is $6.6 billion dollars.
Caregiving and employers
Small businesses are uniquely able to support their working caregivers because you can be more agile than larger employers. Small business owners can use many low-cost and no-cost strategies to support them. Research shows that the most powerful strategies to support caregivers are 1) flexibility and 2) supportive managers. Click here
to learn more about how you can make these a part of your workplace so you can build a stronger business.
