A study released Nov. 19 finds that half of those caring for a loved one 50 years or older are spending on average more than 10 percent of their annual income on caregiving expenses and often sacrifice their own long-term financial and personal wellbeing to do so. The Evercare®/NAC Study of Caregivers: What They Spend, What They Sacrifice finds that family caregivers, who have annual median income of $43,026, spend an average $5,531 a year on caregiving--$400 more than the average American household spends each year on health care and entertainment combined, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Further, the study found that at lower income levels, the annual average costs remained about $5,500--making their financial burden even heavier.
The study also uncovered that one in three respondents (34 percent) had used some of their savings to cover the cost of caregiving, and 23 percent said they had cut back on their own healthcare spending.
The study was undertaken by Evercare, a national healthcare coordination program, in collaboration with the National Alliance for Caregiving (NAC), a national research authority on caregiving. It builds on data uncovered in a 2004 NAC/AARP study, which found that 34 million people care for a loved one 50 years or older. The Evercare/NAC study also uncovered significantly higher costs related to caregiving--in fact, more than twice as much as previously reported. Read the press release.
