Caregivers Risk Their Own Financial Futures

Many Americans underestimate the amount of money needed to pay for long-term care. According to a report entitled Boomer Bust 2011: Still Unprepared and Unaware, many caregivers end up sacrificing their own money and time to help care for elderly loved ones. Commissioners of the report claim that as Baby Boomers begin turning sixty-five this year, the 78 million person class has the potential to severely impair both America’s financial and health care systems.

The report states that women tend to provide care for loved ones more often than men, and that most women surveyed planned to care for elderly loved ones in the future if they were not already caring for a loved one at the time of the survey. The report also cites to a 1999 study that states that as a consequence of caring for elderly loved ones, 20% of working women changed to part-time from full-time employment, 22% took a leave from work, 33% decreased their work hours, and 29% turned down a job opportunity.

The report also found that only one of every ten caregivers are paid for the care they give, and that the economy has made it harder for caregivers financially. Of the 1,200 adults (forty-five years old and over) surveyed, 40% had concerns about saving enough money for their own retirement, let alone enough money to aid in an elderly loved one’s long-term care.

These same respondents believed that Medicare and Medicaid should pay caregivers for the care they provide, and that policies should allow seniors to live in their homes and receive home-based care for as long as possible.

See Caregivers Put Their Future at Risk, Philanthropy Journal, Jun. 1, 2011.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (WealthCounsel) for brining this article to my attention.