Two reports underscore a one-two punch being felt by Baby Boomers caring for a loved one.
The first is a financial hit.
The second is a blow to their own health.
And a third — more serious — blow sits just over the horizon as Baby Boomers continue to age. Who will care for this vast population when their time of need arrives?
Baby Boomers are not alone as a cohort in their care of elderly parents or other loved ones, who, for health or other reasons, can’t take care of themselves. But they make up a large segment of the caregivers who are struggling to find the time, the finances and the energy to work a job, perhaps care for children of their own, and take care of an aging loved one.
A new report from the AARP Public Policy Institute is entitled “Valuing the Invaluable: 2011 Update — The Growing Contributions and Cost of Family Caregiving”.
In the study, AARP estimates about 42.1 million individuals care for relatives and close friends at any time during the year — but about 61.6 million provide care at some point during the year. The study puts the average at 18.4 hours of care per week, up 9 percent from its prior study.
And AARP estimates the value of that unpaid care is about $450 billion a year.
The study found that the average individual is a 49-year-old woman with an outside job,
who spends nearly 20 hours per week caring for her mother for nearly five years.
The report cites the toll on caregivers in terms of lost wages, impact on their retirement savings and investments, and on their own health.
“An extensive body of research finds that providing care to a chronically ill family member or close friend can have profound negative effects on the caregiver’s own physical and psychological health, increase social isolation, and adversely impact quality of life and well-being,” said the study.
In particular, according to AARP, “Caregivers commonly experience emotional strain and mental health problems, especially depression.”
The AARP report underscores an earlier report from the MetLife Mature Market Institute — “The MetLife Study of Caregiving Costs to Working Caregivers: Double Jeopardy for Baby Boomers Caring for Their Parents.”
The study, produced in conjunction with the National Alliance for Caregiving and the Center for Long Term Care Research and Policy at New York Medical College, reports that individually, average losses equal $324,044 for women and $283,716 for men.
Also,the percentage of adults providing care to a parent has more than tripled between 1994 and 2008, representing 17 percent of men and 28 percent of women.
The AARP study was notable in how caregivers see themselves in that they don’t see themselves as caregivers.
“Today, families remain the most important source of support to older adults,” the study said. “Many individuals who provide assistance and support to a loved one with chronic illness or disability do not identify themselves as ‘caregivers’ but rather describe what they do in terms of their relationship with the other person: as a husband, wife, partner, daughter, daughter-in-law, son, grandson, niece, or close friend, for example.”
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