The Role of a Caregiver for Long Term Care

 

A caregiver is the person providing care to someone with a chronic illness or disability. A caregiver may be an unpaid family member, friend, volunteer, or a paid provider of home and community care.

There are about 44 million Americans that are caregivers for an aging relative or friend, and about 29 million of them are employed according the NAC and AARP. 35 percent of baby boomers say they are, or have been, the caregivers for parents. Sixteen percent of working caregivers have quit their jobs and 13 percent were forced to retire early due to the demand of having to care for a loved one and an inability to manage a full time job at the same time (1.). As you can see, by not planning for your Long Term Care needs it can take a toll on a loved one in the long run.

While in the past the responsibility of a caregiver almost exclusively belonged to women, today men make up 39 percent of caregivers (2.).

Plan for you Long Term Care now, and avoid being a burden to a loved one in the future!

1. MetLife Mature Market Institute, MetLife Juggling Act Study, 1999
2. MetLife Mature Market Institute and NAC, Resources for Caregivers, 2007