Financial Situation of Family Caregivers

Family caregiving can result in substantial short-term and long-term financial consequences. About one in five family caregivers report experiencing high financial strain as a result of providing care (18 percent rating 4 or 5 on a 5-point scale; see figure 30). More women than men report caregiving is a financial strain (19 percent vs. 16 percent).

Family caregivers can face some changes to their finances. About half of family caregivers have experienced at least one negative financial impact as a result of caregiving (47 percent), and family caregivers report experiencing about two negative financial impacts (1.8) on average.

A little over a third of family caregivers have stopped saving, 24 percent have used up their personal short-term savings, and 13 percent have used long-term savings (like retirement or education accounts) to pay for other things. Other caregivers report taking on more debt (23 percent) while caring for a family member or friend. Seventeen percent have borrowed money from friends or family. Twenty percent of caregivers have left bills unpaid or have paid them late, whereas 14 percent have been unable to afford basic expenses like food (up from 11 percent in 2020).

Finally, some caregivers attempt to bridge the financial gap through paid work. Eleven percent had to start working, work more, or find a second job due to caregiving’s financial impacts, whereas 9 percent put off when they planned to retire or decided to never retire.

Some groups of caregivers consistently experience more of these negative financial impacts at greater rates than others. African American/Black and Hispanic/Latino caregivers more often experience most of these impacts compared with the total population of family caregivers (see table 6).

Lower-income caregivers, those with less than $50,000 in household income, are more often hit by these negative financial impacts. Lower-income caregivers are more likely to be unable to afford basic expenses (28 percent compared with 8 percent). Notably, lower-income caregivers more often report disruptions to savings (45 percent stopped saving, 35 percent used up personal short-term savings, and 19 percent used long-term savings). These caregivers are already less likely to have sufficient savings to weather financial storms.

More caregivers under age 50 experience many of these negative impacts than older caregivers do. Impacts like taking on more debt (27 percent compared with 19 percent), stopping savings (35 percent compared with 28 percent), or using up personal savings (30 percent compared with 20 percent) can set back a young family caregiver’s future financial security. Taking on more debt (27 percent compared with 19 percent), paying bills late or leaving them unpaid (26 percent compared with 15 percent), and experiencing an eviction or foreclosure (5 percent compared with 1 percent) can negatively affect their credit scores.

Compared with non-LGBTQ+ caregivers, LGBTQ+ caregivers more often experience several negative financial impacts, especially around saving (44 percent have stopped saving compared with 29 percent) and not being able to afford basic expenses (27 percent compared with 12 percent).

Since 2015, more family caregivers have had difficulty finding affordable services for their care recipient, with 28 percent having difficulty finding services like delivered meals, transportation, or in-home health services (see figure 31). Caregivers living in rural areas more often say it is very difficult to get affordable services in their local area or community (34 percent), compared with urban (27 percent) and suburban (26 percent) caregivers.