As the aging population increases, the demand for long-term care services increases as well, so is the demand for caregivers. A big percentage of individuals providing care are family members of long term care dependents, and a lot of baby boomers are relying on loved ones and family members to provide care for them as well. The reason for this is because family members do not require salary unlike licensed caregivers, home care is also cheaper compared to other long-term care settings.
AARP conducted a research on caregivers and caregiving and results showed that there may be fewer caregivers in the coming years due to the increasing demand for long term care. One reason is the increase in longevity and the current living situation of most men and women who may either be divorced or childless. However, if you only rely on family members, you might not be receiving appropriate and quality care when and where you need it due to financial constraints. And even if you have ample amount of savings, you can easily deplete it if you will be needing care for several years.
Reference:
http://www.infolongtermcare.org/long-term-care-insurance-information/
The New York Times recently reported that caregiving is set to become the number one profession in the USA by the year 2020, overtaking retail.
This tells us there are a tremendous number of people caring for an individual needing long-term-care (LTC) services. Whether they are working as a professional caregiver, or are caring for a family member, the stress is similar. Today I am referring to an April 1 article in the USA Today newspaper concerning the depression that comes from doing this work.
The article mentions that 64% of those caring for disabled veterans have jobs. On average, they miss about a day of work each week. Twenty-eight percent quit work due to their caregiving duties. Sixty percent say they are under constant financial strain. Many of these caregivers are aging themselves and worry what will happen to the loved ones they care for when they can no…
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