Source: Times Herald-Record
According to statistics provided by the Family Caregiver Alliance, about 34.2 million American caregivers provided unpaid care in 2015 to an adult age 50 or older. The total value of unpaid caregivers in 2013 was about $470 billion, which exceeded the value of paid home care and Medicaid spending in the same year, and almost matched that year’s sales by Wal-Mart of $477 billion.
More than 75 percent of all caregivers are female and may spend as much as 50 percent more time caregiving than male caregivers. Sixty-five percent of those receiving care are females with an average age of about 69 years.