Helping Working Caregivers Manage the Challenges of Balancing Work and Caring for an Adult Family Member

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Elder Life Planning for Organizations helps business owners, employees, members of participating organizations and their families find solutions to caregiving problems. To find out how your company, bank, or other organization can offer this low cost benefit contact Bob O’Toole at 1-800-375-0595.

Demographics and Aging Trends

In the past 20 years, the older population in America has grown twice as quickly as all other age groups. The 85 and older age group is expected to be seven times its present size by the year 2050. This population trend, which has created a large and growing number of frail elderly people in need of caregiving services, is accompanied by several other trends which suggest that caregiving may become more difficult to provide in the future. Studies published by organizations such as The National Council on Aging, Metropolitan Life, AARP, and the National Family Caregivers Association, document the serious drain on productivity. That elder caregiving creates costs to employers are conservatively estimated to be in the range of $29 to $33 billion. The cost is expected to grow dramatically in the next five years as caregiving responsibilities grow steadily and the labor force shrinks.

Caregiver Burden Adversely Affects Work

As state and federal budget cuts in such programs as Medicare and Medicaid reduce availability of formal support services, family caregivers continue to provide the majority of long-term care to older adults. It is estimated that 80% of care for older adults is provided by their families.

Working women between the ages of 40 and 59 years old, are currently providing the bulk of the caregiving. Most are married women with families of their own. An estimated 44% of caregiving daughters and 55% of caregiving sons are employed. These statistics suggest that many adult children caring for their parents have family and work obligations that may conflict with caregiving responsibilities. The majority of caregivers have been providing care for 1-4 years; 80% of family caregivers provide unpaid assistance seven days a week and primary caregivers report spending between four and six hours a day in caregiving duties.

Caregiving is a time-consuming responsibility which inflicts various limitations on the caregiver's personal life. Confinement has been cited as the most stressful infringement on the caregiver's lifestyle. Role conflict resulting from the competing demands of the care recipient, other family obligations, and employment responsibilities are often a major complaint of caregivers (Bliesner & Alley; Montgomery, Gonyea & Hooyman).

Seventy-seven percent of employed women who also provide care reported experiencing a conflict between work and caregiving demands, and 35% believed that being a caregiver adversely affected their work.

Employed caregivers report family conflict and the loss of friends and activities as a result of caregiving. The emotional and physical strains of caregiving often lead to deterioration in the caregiver's own health. Although caregivers report physical, financial, and family strains associated with caregiving, the most negative consequences of caregiving on caregivers seem to be the emotional strain of caregiver burdens.

Informed Eldercare Decisions, Inc.
450 Washington Street, Suite 108
Dedham, MA 02026
Phone: 781-461-9637
Toll Free: 800-375-0595
Fax: 866-776-9593
E-Mail: bob@elderlifeplanning.com