People who look after an aging parent or other loved one are paying far more out of pocket than they did five years ago, according to a new study from AARP. The group found that caregivers now spend an average of more than $11,500 a year on the people they support, an increase of about 60% since 2021.
The burden falls hardest on lower-income households. For those earning less than $40,000 a year, caregiving expenses take up more than three-quarters of annual income on average, AARP reported. The findings come from a survey of more than 2,500 people who cared for an adult relative or friend in June and July.
Wendy Mayo, a 44-year-old Connecticut resident, knows those pressures well. She and her two siblings share the care of their mother, who has Alzheimer's disease and needs around-the-clock supervision. Their costs include a professional caregiver, their mother's rent, and changes to the home to suit 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." She estimates she personally spends $15,000 a year, while the siblings together spend $45,000.
Mayo said she never hesitated to step in, but the expense was not something she had planned for. "It's a role you're thrust into. It's not like retirement, which we plan for," she said. Supporting her mother has forced her to cut back on saving for her own retirement.
According to AARP, housing and other household costs are the largest expense for caregivers, averaging nearly $4,800 a year. Those costs often include food, rent, mortgage payments and property taxes. Healthcare ranks second, covering insurance premiums, copayments and hospital bills. Other major expenses include nursing homes, medical equipment and supplies, and both 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 spending can drain caregivers financially and make retirement harder to reach. "The financial outputs they provide for their loved one have implications for their own retirement security," she said.
Work life also suffers. Nearly two-thirds of working caregivers surveyed said their caregiving duties had affected their jobs. Some took on extra hours to cover the added costs, while others reduced their schedules or left work entirely because of the time that care demands, cutting into 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.
The strain is also felt by the so-called sandwich generation, middle-aged adults who are raising children while caring for aging parents. O'Reilly noted that caregivers also give unpaid hours to navigating the healthcare system, including finding providers, making appointments and driving loved ones to and from them.
