More on Family Caregivers

A few days back I wrote about a new study on family caregivers published by Pew. The Employee Benefits Research Institute (EBRI) has added to the body of literature on the topic with its 2015 Fact Sheet #7 from EBRI’s 2015 Retirement Confidence Survey. Financial Support & Unpaid Care  Provided by  Americans  The purpose of the annual survey is to gather data about “potential barriers in building up assets or maintaining them.” One question “[I]n particular, [asked about] the amount of financial support provided for relatives or friends and the amount of unpaid care provided for them as well.” Perhaps the results will surprise you.  “Three in 10 (29 percent) workers and 2 in 10 (20 percent) retirees report they are currently providing financial support to a relative or friend.”  The survey also inquired about unpaid care, which as we know has a cost to the caregiver. When asked respondents whether they provided unpaid care, the survey found              “[t]wenty-three percent of workers and 16 percent of retirees responded that they did so.”

The fact sheet offers a couple of other interesting data points.  The spouse is actually not frequently the recipient of the care, with “5 percent of retirees and 4 percent of workers name their spouse as a recipient of their care.” As far as the amount of time spent providing care, slightly over 40% of workers and a little under 40% of retirees provided fewer than 9 hours a week in care.