In Business / January 2007
By the Numbers
An estimated 20 million Americans are struggling to balance their careers and the responsibility of taking care of elderly parents according to a Good Morning America report from 2006. Most of them are women.
According to the Family Caregiver Alliance, the typical caregiver is 46, female and employed outside the home, earning $35,000 and spending more than 20 hours a week caring for a mother who lives nearby. It is a problem that is not going away. In the next 20 years, the number of people 65 years old and older is expected to skyrocket to 70 million, which means more parents will be in need of care and more women will be taking the responsibility.
Taking care of a family member has significant consequences for women in the workplace. More than 30 percent of working women must decrease their hours at work; 29 percent pass up a job promotion; 22 percent take a leave of absence; 20 percent switch from full-time to part-time; 16 percent quit their jobs and 13 percent retire early.
Absenteeism, high turnover rates and decreased productivity have been attributed to caring for elderly parents. Most of the caregivers are employed. Among baby boomer caregivers, 50-64 years old, an estimated 60% are working full or part-time. The time required for taking care of an older family member has cost businesses an estimated $ 29 billion and it is estimated that female caregivers who have quit their jobs have collectively cost businesses $3.3 billion.
It isn’t just a few women taking care of their mothers. Between 25% to 35% of all workers report that they are currently providing, or have recently provided, care to someone 65 or older. About 20% of adult caregivers, 8.9 million of them, care for someone 50 or over who has dementia.
Living arrangements are often adjusted when an elder parent needs care. Adult children often move closer, from across the country to across town. About 24% of caregivers live in the same residence as their care recipient. But, the majority of them, 42%, live within a twenty minute drive and 19% live within an hour of their care recipient. The greater the distance, the more complicated logistics and transportation issues become in an already consuming endeavor.
Unpaid family caregivers, mostly women, are likely to continue to be the largest source of long-term care services in the U.S. and are estimated to reach 37 million caregivers by 2050, an increase of 85% from 2000.
An estimated 20 million Americans are struggling to balance their careers and the responsibility of taking care of elderly parents according to a report on Good Morning America in 2006. The issue of elder care continues to grow since 7,900 baby boomers turn 60 every day, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Being a full-time caregiver can be a full-time job all by itself. Juggling both a career and care giving is extremely daunting-especially when worrying about the safety of a parent. One options some caregivers can choose is a monitoring solution that allows caregivers the ability to keep their parents in view even when they can’t be with them. The system is comprised of cameras, sensors and software that homeowners can control from their mobile phones and their desktop computers.
Some also offer additional accessories that can even monitor environmental changes at the parents’ homes such, like water leaks or extreme temperature variations.
Copyright © 2007 A Woman's View. All rights reserved.
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