Are family caregivers—and care recipients--getting younger? Are men more likely to care for parents and other relatives than in the past? Perhaps, according to a recent survey by the long-term care insurance company Genworth. The survey found that about half of family caregivers now are men. That’s significantly higher than the 40 percent in other studies. At the same time, [...]
Tough new rules proposed by the Trump Administration would make it effectively impossible for immigrants to come to the US to work as home health aides or as staff at nursing homes or assisted living facilities. Because at least one million aides (one of every four) is an immigrant, the complex rules Trump proposed over the weekend would dry up [...]
Last week, Microsoft announced it will require its vendors to provide up to 12 weeks of paid leave for new parents. Nice thought, but the tech giant missed an important opportunity. By limiting the required benefit only to new parents, it is ignoring the needs of workers caring for spouses, siblings, or aging parents. In some respects that’s not surprising. [...]
When we think about family caregivers, we usually picture spouses or 50-something adult children. But, it turns out, about one-third of Americans have helped care for an older loved one by age 40. In some respects, those millennials resemble older caregivers: They are as likely to underestimate the need for long-term supports and services in old age and they misunderstand [...]
When Congress and the White House develop health or long-term care policy, they hear plenty from providers, drug or medical device makers, and scores of other lobbyists and advocates for various interests. But they rarely hear from family caregivers—those people in the trenches who struggle every day to assist their loved ones. On Monday night, Congress passed a bipartisan bill [...]
The Trump Administration believes that caring for babies is so important that employers should give their parents up to six weeks of paid leave. It apparently doesn’t believe it is as important, or as disruptive to work life, to care for aging parents or other relatives in need of personal assistance. That, at least, is the message it is sending [...]
About four in 10 family caregivers are men—sons, husbands, brothers, sons-in-law, or neighbors. We are nearly always ignored in discussions about caregiving, lost in the stereotype of the family caregiver as a 40-something daughter. Finally, AARP is shining a much-needed spotlight on these men. A new study by Jean Accius at AARP’s Public Policy Institute paints a valuable, and rare, [...]
It costs families more to care for a frail older adult than to raise a child for the first 17 years of her life. Yet, while the government routinely provides a broad range of assistance and free services for children, it offers only limited benefits for those needing long-term supports and services—and mostly only for those who are impoverished and [...]
Your family gets together for the holidays. You expect one of those wonderful Hallmark moments but instead...disaster. There are always issues at family get-togethers (Clinton v. Trump, Sue’s gravy v. Tom’s), but when it comes to adult children and their aging parents, the landmines seem to be everywhere. Here are four ways to turn holiday challenges into opportunities—for you, your [...]
I helped care for my dad, who was dying of heart disease, for about 18 months. I was not even his primary caregiver. My mother and a home health aide took care of most if his-day-to-day needs. Yet, after he died, I was exhausted--worn out like I had never been before. Caring for an aging parent can be among the [...]