Who is the caregiver, and why? More often than not, it’s an unpaid role. What can we do to encourage more family members to participate in caregiving or at least support the sibling or family member in that role?
Approximately 43.5 million caregivers have provided unpaid care to an adult or child in the last 12 months. [National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP. (2015). Caregiving in the U.S.] The majority of caregivers (82%) care for one adult, while 15% care for two adults, and 3% for three or more adults. [National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP. (2015). Caregiving in the U.S.]
About 15.7 million adult family caregivers care for someone who has Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia. [Alzheimer’s Association. (2015). 2015 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures.] Those numbers are only expected to increase, as you’ve heard me discuss many times on the show.
Let’s take a closer look at caregivers in this episode. Who is typically a caregiver of an older adult family member? Did you know it’s often unpaid? Why aren’t more people in families sharing this burden?
I’m going to put some pressure on the men out there today and challenge you a bit. Are you ready?
I’ve got a man in the hot seat today – he is willing to face some questions for the team. It’s my husband, Gary.
He is not a typical man because he is a caregiver and has been several times. He’s the perfect person to get a perspective from and maybe support me in issuing a challenge to more men. These services are not paid, but they are valuable.
Who Are These Unpaid Caregivers? – Facts and Figures
The latest numbers for 2025 from the National Partnership indicate the value of unpaid caregiving would be more than $1.1 trillion. The analysis also shows women each spend an average of nearly 300 hours annually on caregiving, valued at $683 billion. Across all racial and ethnic groups, researchers found women spend more time on unpaid caregiving than men.
Other studies indicate that 36% of female caregivers handle the most difficult caregiving tasks (e.g., bathing, toileting, and dressing) compared with 24% for their male counterparts, who are more likely to help with finances, arrangement of care, and other less burdensome tasks.
Sixty-five percent of care recipients are female, with an average age of 69.4.
Upwards of 75% of all caregivers are female and may spend as much as 50% more time providing care than males. [Institute on Aging. (2016). Read How IOA Views Aging in America.]
14.5 million caregivers are males out of the 43.4% who care for an older family member.
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