Study reveals costs of caring for aging parents
The sacrifices caregivers make to aid their aging parents have a significant impact on their current and future financial stability, says a new study released Tuesday.
“The MetLife Study of Caregiving Costs to Working Caregivers: Double Jeopardy for Baby Boomers Caring for Their Parents” revealed that adults in the U.S. who take care of their aging parents lose an estimated $3 trillion in wages, pension and Social Security benefits (when they take time off to care for their parents). Individually, average losses equal $324,044 for women and $283,716 for men.
"Nearly 10 million adult children over the age of 50 care for their aging parents," said director of the MetLife Mature Market Institute, Sandra Timmermann, EdD, in a statement. "Assessing the long-term financial impact of caregiving for aging parents on caregivers themselves, especially those who must curtail their working careers to do so, is especially important, since it can jeopardize their future financial security."
The study was produced by the MetLife Mature Market Institute in conjunction with the National Alliance for Caregiving and the Center for Long Term Care Research and Policy at New York Medical College and was based on data from the National Health and Retirement Study. The HRS is conducted bi-annually by the University of Michigan with funding from the National Institute on Aging. It surveys adults over the age of 50 on issues ranging from income, work and health status to whether respondents provide basic, personal care and/or financial assistance to their parents.
Key findings of the MetLife study include:
• Adult children age 50+ who work and provide care to a parent are more likely than those who do not provide care to report that their health is fair or poor.
• The percentage of adult children providing personal care and/or financial assistance to a parent has more than tripled over the past 15 years and currently represents a quarter of adult children, mainly Baby Boomers. Working and non-working adult children are almost equally likely to provide care to parents in need.
• Overall, caregiving sons and daughters provide comparable care in many respects, but daughters are more likely to provide basic care (i.e., help with dressing, feeding and bathing) and sons are more likely to provide financial assistance defined as providing $500 or more within the past two years. Twenty-eight percent of women provide basic care, compared with 17 percent of men.
• For women, the total individual amount of lost wages due to leaving the labor force early because of caregiving responsibilities equals $142,693. The estimated impact of caregiving on lost Social Security benefits is $131,351. A very conservative estimated impact on pensions is approximately $50,000. Thus, in total, the cost impact of caregiving on the individual female caregiver in terms of lost wages and Social Security benefits equals $324,044.
• For men, the total individual amount of lost wages due to leaving the labor force early because of caregiving responsibilities equals $89,107. The estimated impact of caregiving on lost Social Security benefits is $144,609. Adding in a conservative estimate of the impact on pensions at $50,000, the total impact equals $283,716 for men, or an average of $303,880 for male or female caregivers age 50+ who care for a parent.
“As the percentage of employees who are caregivers continues to grow, there will be greater demand on employers for help and support,” said Timmermann. “There are many workplace resources and programs that can be made available that benefit all stakeholders since financial stress can negatively impact physical health and workplace productivity."
The MetLife study notes that employers can offer their employees who are caring for aging parents options such as flex time and family leave and retirement planning and stress management resources.
