Portrait of Today’s Family Caregiver

Rosalyn Carter said it best: “There are only four kinds of people in the world – those who have been caregivers, those who are currently caregivers, those who will be caregivers and those who will need caregivers”.

The National Alliance for Caregiving 2009 Survey gives a detailed look at who caregivers are today and how they are affected by the caregiving role.

In the past year, 65.7 million individuals have provided unpaid family caregiving:

• 66% are female, average age- 48 years old

• 40% are still raising their own children

• Average care time- over 20 hours per week

• Average length of care provided- almost 5 years

• Two-thirds of caregivers reported having gone to work late, left early or taken time off for caregiving needs

• Over half said one or more other unpaid caregivers also helped their care recipient

Family caregivers spend much of their time helping family members with daily activities such as getting in and out of bed, getting dressed and other basic but essential tasks. It is no surprise that caregiving affects physical and emotional health. The longer the caregiver has been providing care, the more likely (s)he is to be in poor health herself.

Caregiving experiences are as unique as the people involved, but national studies show that caregiving strains the budgets and time of those in a caregiving role.

For more information, see the 2009 Caregiving Survey at www.caregiving.org and additional resources at www.wiserwomen.org.

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