WHO NEEDS HOME CARE?
1. An estimated 36.8 million people - 12.4% of the
population - are 65 and older.
2. The U.S. population age 65 and
older is expected to double in size within the next 25
years.
3. By 2030, almost 1 in 5 Americans - some 72
million people - will be65 or older.
4. The 85+
population is projected to double from 4.7 million in 2003
to 9.6 million in 2030 - and double again to 20.9 million
in 2050.
5. In 1960, only 1.6% of older men and 1.5% of
women age 65 and older were divorced. By 2003, 7% of older
men and 8.6% of older women were divorced and had not
remarried.
6. About 80% of seniors have at least one
chronic health condition and 50% have at least two.
Source(s):
1. Obtained directly from U.S.
Census Bureau (2006)
2-4. U.S. Census Bureau Web Site:
www.census.gov (2006)
5-6. U.S. Census
Bureau: 65+ in the United States 2005 (2005)
WHO PROVIDES HOME CARE?
1. Nearly 25% of all American adults currently
provide daily companionship or assistance to a parent or
relative.
2. Approximately 60% of family caregivers are
women.
3.
The typical family caregiver is a 46-year-old woman caring
for her widowed mother who does not live with her. She is
married and employed.
4. An estimated 88% of married
individuals report their spouse as their key caregiver.
Source(s)
1. Harris Interactive Study for Home
Instead Senior Care (2003)
2-3. National Alliance for
Caregiving and AARP: Caregiving in the U.S. (2004)
4.
U.S. Census Bureau: 65+ in the United States (2005)
WHO NEEDS HELP?
1. Approximately 37% of family
caregivers spend more than 40 hours a week
providing care, and 30% spend 20 to 39 hours per
week doing so.
2. Nearly seven in 10 (69%)family caregivers
spend less time with family and friends since
becoming caregivers.
3. Nine in 10 family
caregivers (91%) surveyed - all in fair/poor
health - suffer from depression, an eight in 10
(81%) of those with depression report that
caregiving had made their depression worse.
4. Approximately 62% of family caregivers who
work have had to make some adjustments to their
work life, from reporting late to work to
giving up work entirely.
5. Nearly one in
five caregivers (17%) says they provide more
than 40 hours of care per week to a loved one.
6. A wife's hospitalization increased her
husband's chances of dying within a month by
35%. A husband's hospitalization boosted his
wife's mortality risk by 44%.
7. Extreme
stress can take as much as 10 years off a family
caregiver's life.
8. Family caregivers report
having a chronic condition at more than
twice the rate of non-caregivers.
Source(s):
1-3. Evercare: Evercare Study of
Caregivers in Decline: A Close-up Look at the
Health Risks of Caring for a Loved One (
www.evercarehealthplans.com,
2006)
4-5, 8. National Alliance for
Caregiving and AARP: Caregiving in the U.S.
(2004)
6. New England Journal of Medicine
(2006)
7. Peter S. Arno: Economic Value of
Informal Caregiving (2006)
