Economics of Caregiving
- “Women who are family caregivers are 2.5 times more
likely than non-caregivers to live in poverty and five times more
likely to receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI).”
Source: Study conducted by researchers at Rice University and data compiled from the Health and Retirement Study funded by the National Institute of Aging and conducted by the University of Michigan, 1992-2004.
- Caregiving families (families in which one member has a
disability) have median incomes that are more than 15% lower than
non-caregiving families. In every state and DC the poverty rate
is higher among families with members with a disability than
among families without.
Source: Disability and American Families: 2000, Census 2000 Special Reports, July 2005.
- Out of pocket medical expenses for a family that has a
disabled member who needs help with activities of daily living
(eating, toileting, etc.) are more than 2.5% greater (11.2% of
income compared to 4.1%) than for a family without a disabled
member.
Source: Drs. Altman, Cooper and Cunningham, “The Case of Disability in the Family: Impact on Health Care Utilization and Expenditures for Non-disabled Members,” Milbank Quarterly 77 (1) pages 39 – 75, 1999.
- In 2000 typical working family caregiver lost $109 per day in
wages and health benefits due to the need to provide full time
care at home.
Source: Stucki, B.R. and Mulvey, J., "Can Aging Baby Boomers Avoid the Nursing Home? Long-term Care Insurance for Aging in Place." American Council of Life Insurers, March 2000.
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Reprinted from Statistics on Family Caregivers and Family Caregiving 2006 with permission of the National Family Caregivers Association, Kensington, MD, the nation’s only organization for all family caregivers.
1 800 896 3650
National Family Caregivers Association.
