Caregivers face soaring costs, taking a toll on income and jobs

Wendy Mayo knows firsthand how expensive and time-consuming caring for an aging parent can be. The 44-year-old Connecticut resident and her two siblings help look after their mother, who has Alzheimer's disease and requires around-the-clock supervision. 

The siblings split the cost of care, which includes employing a professional caregiver, paying their mother's rent, and spending to adapt the home to accommodate her condition.

"We pay her rent and bought stuff to prevent bedsores, plus bed alarms because she was getting out of bed and wandering around," Mayo told CBS News. "So we also invested in cameras to watch her, and all those things add up when you're a caregiver." 

Mayo estimates she spends $15,000 annually caring for her mom, while the siblings spend a combined $45,000. 

Caregivers for aging relatives and other loved ones have seen their out-of-pocket costs skyrocket over the past five years, according to a new study from AARP. On average, caregivers today spend more than $11,500 per year looking after people who need support, up roughly 60% from 2021, the group found.

For households that earn less than $40,000 a year, caregiving costs consume more than three-quarters of their annual income, on average, according to AARP. 

The hardships can also be significant for members of the "sandwich generation" — middle-aged adults who are raising children while also caring for aging parents.

AARP based its findings on a survey of more than 2,500 people who provided care for an adult relative or friend in June and July.

The toll on caregivers

Family caregivers' financial commitment to caring for a loved one can affect their own economic security, AARP noted. For her part, Mayo said she never hesitated to offer care for her mom, but acknowledged it wasn't a cost she had budgeted for. 

"It's a role you're thrust into. It's not like retirement, which we plan for," she told CBS News, noting that supporting her mother has forced her to pull back on saving for her own retirement. 

Housing and other household costs — which often include food, rent, mortgage payments and property taxes — are the largest expense for caregivers, according to AARP. The group estimates that people spend an average of nearly $4,800 a year on those expenses.

Healthcare costs are the second-largest financial burden for caregivers, including insurance premiums, copayments and payments to hospitals. Other major costs include nursing homes, medical equipment and supplies, and prescription and over-the-counter drugs.

Megan O'Reilly, AARP's vice president of government affairs for health and family, told CBS News that such costs can drain caregivers financially and make it hard for them to retire. 

"The financial outputs they provide for their loved one have implications for their own retirement security," she said. 

Impact on jobs

Along with the financial toll that often accompanies looking after a loved one, caregivers may also experience an impact on their jobs or income. Nearly two-thirds of working caregivers surveyed by AARP said that those added responsibilities had affected their work lives. 

Sometimes the added costs required them to work additional hours, while the time commitment in offering care sometimes forced them to reduce their work schedules or even quit altogether, affecting their earnings. 

"They have to make decisions about staying in the workforce or leaving, and increasing or reducing their hours to meet caregiving needs," O'Reilly said.

She also highlighted how many additional unpaid hours caregivers can spend assisting patients.

"There is the financial component, but there's also the time that caregivers spend navigating the healthcare system for loved ones," O'Reilly said. "They are spending time finding providers, making appointments, and providing transportation to and from those appointments." 

Edited by Alain Sherter

Value of family caregiving surpasses $1 trillion annually, new AARP report finds