Prevalence of Caregiving in the United States and Virginia

For a more extensive compilation of statistics, please click here.

In the U.S.

16% of the U.S. population, or 33,861,900 adults, provide unpaid care to a recipient who is 50 or older. (Caregiving in the U.S., 19)
17% of American households (or 18,539,500 households) contain at least one caregiver who provides care to someone age 50 or older. (Caregiving in the U.S., 19)
By 2009, approximately one in 10 employees (11-15.6 million working Americans) will also be providing care for an elderly relative, friend or spouse. (MetLife Juggling Act Study, 2)
“One of 10 working-age adults age 19-64 is caring for a sick or disabled family member, for a total of 16 million caregivers in 2003.” (Note: these statistics include care recipients of any age, infant through adult) (A Look at Working-Age Caregivers' Roles, Health Concerns, and Need for Support, 1)
- More than 9 million of these caregivers have health problems of their own. (A Look at Working-Age Caregivers' Roles, Health Concerns, and Need for Support, 1)
- 60 percent of these caregivers reported having one or more health problems (Note: total adds up to more than 60 percent because multiple answers were allowed.). (A Look at Working-Age Caregivers' Roles, Health Concerns, and Need for Support, 2)
  - Fair or poor personal health (26%),
  - Disability or handicap (24%),
  - One or more chronic conditions, such as diabetes, arthritis, cancer, or heart disease (45%)
The U.S. elderly population is expected to reach 80 million by 2050. (Best Practices, 3) (Fact cited from the Labor Project for Working Families)
“The Social Security Administration projects that one in five Americans will be aged 65 or older by the year 2030, compared with about 13 percent now.” (Potential and Active Family Caregivers: Changing Networks and the ‘Sandwich Generation,’ 347)
Approximately 40 percent of those providing care for an elderly recipient also are responsible for caring for a child/children. (Best Practices, 3) (Fact cited from the Labor Project for Working Families)

In Virginia:

Virginia ranks 12th in the nation in the number of family caregivers, with a total of nearly 700,000 (696,303). (http://www.thefamilycaregiver.org/pdfs/state_stats.pdf)
More than 1 million Virginians provide unpaid care to an individual age 18 or older (Caregiving in the U.S – Spotlight on Virginia, 16)
o 1,150,300 caregivers (21% of the Virginia population)

Economics of Providing Care

The value of unpaid care provided by those who care for adult* family members or friends is estimated at $257 billion annually. (Caregiving in the U.S., 3) (All adults, age 18+)
Caregivers who help older care recipients provide an average of $197 per month in financial support. (Caregiving in the U.S., 81)
“…A University of California-Berkeley study finds the annual cost to employers is $2,500 - $3,000 per caregiving employee.” (Best Practices, 2)
The aggregate costs in lost productivity to U.S. businesses due to employees who are providing Level III, IV or V care was $11.4 billion per year (in 1997 dollars). (MetLife Study of Employer Costs for Working Caregivers, 7)
If all employed caregivers were included (including those working part-time, those providing long-distance care, and those providing Level I or II care), the cost to U.S. business would exceed $29 billion per year (1997 dollars). (MetLife Study of Employer Costs for Working Caregivers, 7)
There are nearly 700,000 family caregivers in the Commonwealth of Virginia, providing 746 million hours of care with an annual market value of $6,571 million (Year 2000 dollars). (http://www.thefamilycaregiver.org/pdfs/state_stats.pdf)