WSJ Article on Personal Care Contracts

Trish Richert recently signed a binding employment contract. Inexchange for taking care of a 77-year-old woman — arranging and takingher to doctors’ appointments, doing her bills, keeping her house tidy– Ms. Richert, of Greensboro, N.C., receives a modest stipend thatcovers travel expenses and other costs.

Ms. Richert’s employer:her mother. The two recently entered into a so-called caregivercontract — a formal agreement, set up by a lawyer — in which Ms.Richert, 45, receives a small payment for the long hours she spendscaring for her mom.

Read more in today’s WSJ (may require login).

Ed.:  Women provide as between 60% and 75% f the informal care available to the elderly.  The value of informal care that women provide ranges between $148 billion to $188 billion annually.