Caregiving in the U.S. 2009

MetLife Foundation funded a national caregiving study conducted for the National Alliance for Caregiving and the AARP. This study was published in November 2009 and was composed of three parts:

• Caregivers of Children under 18 with Special Needs
  
• Caregivers of Young Adults
• and Caregivers of adults 50+

The study of caregivers of adults 50+ was based on telephone interviews with 1,397 caregivers who are 18 years or older and who care for someone 50 years or older. Key findings of this study include:

• they estimated that 43.5 million caregivers provide unpaid care for a family member or friend who is age 50 or over. This means that 19% of all adults in the U.S. are caregivers.
  
• approximately 67% of caregivers are female.
• the average age of caregivers is 50 years old
• caregivers provide care for an average of four years
  
• caregivers provide on average 19 hours of care per week
• 55% of caregivers are employed while caregiving and 64% of these caregivers report having to make workplace accomodations (such as coming in late to work) as a result of their caregiving role.
• 15% report their care recipient requires help due to aging
• 15% report their care recipient requires help due to Alzheimer's disease, dementia, or forgetfulness.

For more information, you can click here for the full study.