Senior Spotlight: Perspectives On The Caregiving Crisis

Did you know that among the nearly 50 million family caregivers in the US, 78% of them are caring for a loved one age 50 or older? Plus, nearly 16 million Americans are providing care for a friend or relative with Alzheimer’s or dementia. With AARP reporting that more than 1 in 5 adults is a family caregiver, we are not surprised that this topic has shaped many of the headlines thus far in 2023. 

While the struggles of caregiving are very real, the solutions are not as apparent. Given that so many factors are impacting the shortage of people to help, the real question is not how did we get here but what do we do about it? 

The articles below offer a few important considerations for how the caregiving crisis may be addressed this year and the years that follow. This is just the tip of the iceberg for a glacier of awareness and proactivity that will be needed to support caregivers and their families in the decades to come. Stay tuned as we will be following this topic on our Senior Spotlight throughout 2023. 

Families Of Baby Boomers Face Several Difficult Long-Term Care Decisions

This Wisconsin-based report is part of a multi-segment read on the challenges that Baby Boomers and their families will face in accessing and affording long-term care. This article draws to light the cost of care, the need for staff retention in care facilities and the gaps that families will inevitably fill. 

Finding Home Care Help Through An App

We have always followed innovation and are excited to see technology being applied to a very human compassion-based field. This publication from Next Avenue highlights “…several platforms emerging abroad and in the U.S. that aim to make various types of eldercare easier to access.” The foundation of such apps is flexibility (help can often arrive in hours or days!), ease of connecting with candidates and affordability as many do not have minimum commitments. 

Care Economy: The Major Economic Crisis US Business And Government Leaders Are Ignoring

Unfortunately we cannot talk about caregiving without talking about the costs – and not just the physical and emotional ones, but the financial implications. Just a few weeks ago, the World Economic Forum reported that “The $6 trillion US care economy comprises both paid and unpaid services provided to populations who are unable to independently support themselves.” If this continues without any changes, the US could lose would lose an estimated $290 billion in GDP in the year 2030 and beyond. Think of that impact on the individuals who must leave their jobs, reduce their hours and struggle to support their families – all because they cannot care for a loved one and retain employment.

The message here is that employee-first and caregiver-centric policies need to face less scrutiny. Ideas include flexible work policies (offering remote & part-time work), increased paid family leave, back-up care providers, subsidized paid care and help accessing supportive technology. Partnership between the private and public sectors is going to be key as neither alone can solve the caregiving crisis. 

Has your family faced any impacts related to the current caregiving crisis? Have you considered the long-term care needs of your parents… or yourself? What would you prioritize as the biggest solution to helping those caring for aging or disabled loved ones? 

This is all great food for thought as we start a new month with new perspectives... Happy February! 

Warmest regards,

Bobbi

Bobbi Decker
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Broker Associate
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