Consumer Focus Column: Family Caregiving as a Women’s Issue

Katie Sloan, AAHSA's Consumer Focus Columnist

We often refer to aging as a women’s issue, largely because women live longer than men. However, the connection between women and aging actually begins much earlier in life for many of us who are family caregivers. Decades before we reach old age, many boomer women are helping older relatives negotiate the challenges of aging.

A recent rerelease of data from The Caregiving Project for Older Americans puts a $360-billion price tag on the value of this family caregiving. Basically, that’s the cost that we as a nation would have paid in 2006 to provide the kind of “free” services and supports that family caregivers offered to aging relatives. Most significantly, the bulk of that contribution – between $207 billion and $263 billion – was provided by women.

This contribution comes with a price, of course. Compared to previous generations, boomer women are much more likely to work outside the home. About four in 10 people providing family care to an adult also have children living at home. The juggling act takes a toll – emotional stress, poor health, financial strain and even depression and anxiety.       

In spite of this, women will continue to be caregivers – out of love, duty and loyalty, or a lack of perceived alternatives. They will do what needs to be done, regardless of the impact on their pocketbooks, employment or personal health.

Ironically, boomer women will eventually require the same kind of care that they now provide to their own older relatives. The Caregiving Project reports that half of boomer women who are caregivers realize that they are unprepared for a future in which they may need care. Yet, only a third of these caregivers is taking specific action to prepare for that future.    

Do we fail to plan ahead because we are a “live in the moment” generation? Are we denying our own aging? Or do we simply feel uncomfortable discussing caregiving issues with our families? How can boomer women do a better job of planning ahead for their own care so they can protect their health – and the health of their family caregivers?