Typical family caregiver spends
thousands of dollars from personal funds a year to help loved ones
AARP,
October 1, 2019
En español | As an unpaid family
caregiver, you can expect to spend nearly 20 percent of your personal income on
out-of-pocket costs related to helping your loved one, according to an AARP
study.
And if you're trying to do this work long
distance, your costs are considerably higher, according to the report, Family Caregiving and Out-of-Pocket Costs.
"The strain can be enormous and may put
[caregivers'] own financial and retirement security at risk,” says Nancy
LeaMond, AARP's chief advocacy and engagement officer.
Researchers surveyed nearly 2,000 family
caregivers representing a variety of races and ethnicities in July and August
2016 and asked them to keep a diary of their expenditures. The study found that
family caregivers spent an average of nearly $7,000 a year of their own money —
more than $7,400 in 2019 dollars.
That spiked to nearly $12,000 — $12,700 when
adjusted for inflation — for caregivers who lived an hour or more from the care
recipient. Costs generally were slightly higher if those receiving the care
were 50 or older.
A breakdown of the costs involved
More than 3 out of 4 caregivers incurred some
or all of the following out-of-pocket costs (the figures are adjusted for
inflation to 2019; they don't add up to $7,400 because of rounding):
• Household expenses. More than $3,000, 41 percent, was spent
on items such as making mortgage payments, modifying a home to accommodate
difficulty getting around and installing remote health and safety monitoring
devices.
Personal costs
What caregivers say they've cut back on
because of the costs of providing care to a loved one:
• Trips or vacations, 45%
• Eating out, 45%
• Personal doctor visits, 19%
• Groceries, 18%
• Household supplies, 14%
• Personal medicine, 13%
• Children's education, 5%
• Eating out, 45%
• Personal doctor visits, 19%
• Groceries, 18%
• Household supplies, 14%
• Personal medicine, 13%
• Children's education, 5%
Source: Family Caregiving and Out-of-Pocket Costs,
AARP
• Medical needs. More than $1,800, 25 percent, was spent on
co-payments for doctors, hospitals and prescriptions; equipment such as
wheelchairs, oxygen concentrators or hearing aids to help make daily life
easier; and travel to get the recipient of care to a doctor's office or clinic.
• Personal care expenses. More than $1,000, 14 percent, was spent on
items such as clothing, incontinence supplies, shampoo, soap and even pet care
for the person receiving the care.
• Education, travel and legal fees. Almost $900, 12 percent, was spent for
expenses such as traveling to provide the care, retrofitting vehicles to
accommodate wheelchairs, consultations with lawyers or educational expenses if,
for example, the caregiver received any training.
• Paid help. More than $600, 8 percent, was spent for
assistance and respite care, including adult day care,
counseling, geriatric care managers and hired companions.
Hispanic/Latino caregivers often had to spend
thousands of dollars more of their own money to get the job done than did
caregivers of other ethnicities, the AARP study showed.
Professional home care costs more
Family caregivers often spend this money
because it's less costly than getting professional home health care.
In 2018, Genworth, which sells long-term care
insurance, estimated the
average monthly costs for homemaker services — light
housekeeping, meal preparation and running errands — at more than $4,000. The
costs for a home health aide, someone with medical training who can assist with
bathing or other more personal needs, were about $200 more a month, adding up
to more than $50,000 a year.
Approximately 1 in 7 adults in the United
States — about 40 million people — provide some type of unpaid care to another
adult, according to a 2018 Pew Research Center analysis of
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
On average, adult caregivers spend almost 80
minutes a day providing unpaid assistance that includes bathing, bill paying,
dressing, eating, home maintenance, medical care and transportation to
appointments, Pew researchers found.
About 1 in 5 spend less than 20 minutes a day
to provide the necessary care. But more than 1 in 10 need three hours or more
daily, the equivalent of a part-time job.
Effect on work, spending, saving
About 3 in 5 caregivers — almost 24 million
people — have a paying job in addition to their caregiving responsibilities,
according to another 2016 AARP analysis.
More than half of family caregivers have to
take time off from their main job, reduce hours at work or quit their jobs
altogether to accommodate their responsibilities, AARP researchers found. This
can mean diminished chances for promotions, less job security, fewer employment
benefits, reduced money set aside for their own retirements and lower Social
Security benefits for themselves when the time comes.
More than a third cut back on personal
spending to get the extra money they need to pay for a loved one's needs.
Three in 10 have dipped into their personal
savings, 1 in 6 have reduced the money they set aside for retirement, 1 in 7
have spent less on their own health care, more than 1 in 10 have gone into
their retirement savings and another 1 in 10 have taken out a loan.
The good news: In the past two years, states have passed more than 200 laws
that support family caregivers and help provide flexibility in their paying
jobs, for example, by expanding options for leave to care for ailing loved
ones.
The federal Recognize, Assist, Include, Support, and Engage (RAISE)
Family Caregivers Act, signed into law in 2018, requires the U.S.
government to develop a strategy to help family caregivers. That work is
happening now.
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