More on Family Caregiving

We all know how important caregivers are in the life of those elders.  Two articles about caregiving caught my eye recently.  First, a few days ago Kaiser Health News (KHN) ran a story on Who are America’s Caregivers? Nearly a Quarter are Millennials.  It’s not just the Baby Boomers as caregivers;  “almost a quarter of the adults who take care of older people – on top of their regular jobs and responsibilities – are between the ages of 18 and 34, according to research by AARP Policy Institute and the National Alliance for Caregiving.”  More attention is being devoted to the issue, and the article notes that the Institute of Medicine will be “putting out a report next year on the state of family caregiving, and a number of states have passed or are considering legislation that would help hospitals better communicate with and train an older person’s caregiver, especially after a hospitalization.”

The New York Times ran a story on caregiving’s impact on careers. Caregivers Sometimes Must Sacrifice Their Careers highlights one caregiver who used up all of her leave time before having to quit her job to be a fulltime caregiver. And once having left the workforce, rejoining the workforce later may not be that easy.  There is no real comparison between child care and elder care-the two are quite different.

Elder care, however, takes life-altering turns without warning: the crippling fall, the massive stroke. An older person’s need for assistance generally rises; given increased life spans, some workers will care for their parents longer and more intensively than they did their children.

Moreover, “the emotional toll is different,” said Kenneth Matos, senior research director at the Families and Work Institute.

“Someone raising a child is headed for happier events” and greater independence. “Someone caring for an elder is headed for sadder experiences.”

Some states have stepped up to provide benefits for family caregiving.  Also not to be overlooked, the financial impact on family caregivers who have to quit their jobs-now and in the future when they themselves retire.