The Costs for Family Caregivers Continues to Rise

Posted on | January 16, 2008 | Comments Off on The Costs for Family Caregivers Continues to Rise

Doing the right thing is an expensive proposition

In the United States nearly a quarter of our multi-generational families have a family member working in a job that they never trained for, never asked for, and have never been paid for. That job is the informal family caregiver. It is estimated that there are 34 million Americans providing care for older family members and friends.

One might assume that because this care is provided by family and friends, it’s free – but that’s not the case at all. Considering actual financial costs alone, a recent study of 1,000 informal family caregivers found that the annual cost was $5,500 dollars. And if you were caring for a family member from afar, let’s say from another state or distant community, the average cost was $8,728 dollars per year. The money goes toward direct medical expenses; household items, including food; extra help and travel; and home repairs and basic day-to-day equipment.

The money comes from a variety of sources. Half of the family caregivers cut back on hobbies, leisure activities and vacations. One third dip into savings and defer major purchases for themselves. And a quarter cut back on their own groceries and seeing their doctors to cover the costs.

It’s not surprising then, that as families and friends deprive themselves while caring for others they often become sick as they struggle to do the right thing. In the end, they often so seriously compromise their own health that they, too become victims of disease. Studies have shown that a large number of surviving spouses die within a year of the loss of their loved one. The mortality rate is more than six percent among the men and 3.5 percent for the women.

The fate of surviving spouses, many of whom were primary home-based caregivers for their ill loved ones, emphasizes society’s need to provide better social network support for family caregivers. For more statistics and analysis of the issue, please watch this week’s video (embedded with this blog post) or read the full transcript, below. Then tell us how you feel: Should our caregivers be compensated in some way? If so, how? What kind of changes to our health care system are needed? Please join the discussion by posting a comment!