Two years ago, Anita Robinson took early retirement from her position as a senior partner at a tech firm in Atlanta. She was 57 and had been at the company for more than three decades.
“It wasn’t my intent, but special circumstances called me to duty as a daughter,” Robinson told me.
Her 83-year-old mom is blind, has dementia, four different types of cancer, and requires full-time care. “I just couldn’t in good conscience leave her,” she said.
There are millions of Americans facing similar heart-wrenching and financially difficult decisions as America’s caregiving crisis is worsening.
An astonishing 63 million Americans — nearly 1 in 4 adults — now provide care to an adult with health or functional needs, or to a child with a serious medical condition or disability — a record high, according to a new report from AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving. That’s up from 53 million in 2020 and 43.5 million a decade ago.
“What’s even more troubling is what caregiving costs people,” AARP CEO Myechia Minter-Jordan, told Yahoo Finance.
Nearly half of caregivers are struggling with significant financial factors. More than 2 in 10 have taken on more debt, about a third have used up short-term savings, 3 in 10 have stopped saving, and roughly 20% are leaving bills unpaid or paying them late, according to the data.
At the same time, they are grappling with work and career fall out. More than 60% of caregivers are balancing their caregiving responsibilities while still employed, the report shows. And half report they reduced hours, have taken unpaid leave, or even quit their job entirely as Robinson did.
“There are a number of factors driving the financial strain. It’s increasingly challenging for caregivers to access affordable, quality supports and services that are needed to provide adequate care — things such as respite care and access to paid leave from their employers,” Minter-Jordan said.
Robinson was initially able to step away from her job temporarily through the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to see if she might be able to find a way to do both jobs.
The FMLA provides 12 weeks a year of unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons with continuation of group health insurance coverage.
“Afterwards, my company wasn’t flexible with options and started requiring everybody back into the office,” she said. “There were not many exceptions granted for working from home. It was just not an environment conducive for me to continue to work.”
She’s getting by on savings but trying not to tap all of her nest egg.
“I’ve been living off savings and withdrew a small pension that I had access to, ” Robinson said. “That incremental piece has been a big help with no income coming in.”
Robinson is too young to actually retire for myriad reasons.
“I do know that I will have to return to work at some point to keep up with healthcare costs and increasing cost-of-living,” she said. “I don’t want to deplete my retirement savings. But for now caring for mom is a labor of love. It’s just what you do.”
To prepare for that future unretirement, she is strategically doing pro bono projects and accepted an unpaid board position on a nonprofit that she can handle remotely — all things that help her skills stay relevant.
“I’m still active so that it won’t look to a potential employer that I just went off into vacation mode for a few years and didn’t do anything,” she said.
The average caregiver is 51 years old and lives with the person they care for, according to the report. Women account for the majority (61%) of caregivers.
“Women face several obstacles that jeopardize their retirement security — they live longer and they need more income,” Cindy Hounsell, founder and president of the Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER), told Yahoo Finance. “The impact of caregiving responsibilities causes them to save less, which means recovering financially is unlikely for many of them in this situation.”
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It’s not a secret or surprise that caregiving responsibilities hinder career advancement.
The work is unpredictable and not responsive to the demands of a 9 to 5 job.
As a result, many workers find themselves forced to make career changes. Working caregivers say they are willing to change jobs for better caregiving support — even if it requires a career shift, doing less meaningful work, or relocating, according to a recent SHRM report.
Caregivers are often hesitant to even disclose their caregiver status, fearing stigma or negative repercussions in the workplace.
“Caregiving has emerged as one of the most defining challenges facing families, and one of the most disruptive forces shaping the modern workforce,” said Lindsay Jurist-Rosner, CEO and founder of Wellthy, a firm that provides caregiving support through its partnerships with employers, health plans and insurance carriers.
I can relate. When I was self-employed a few years ago, I cared for my 91-year-old mother with dementia in my home. I hung by a thread trying to get work done before she awoke for the day.
The stress and responsibility were overwhelming. I never told my clients what I was dealing with on a daily basis. I just put my head down and did my work.
“The cost, complexity, and emotional weight of care has only grown, with employees navigating longer lifespans for loved ones, rising care expenses, and increasingly intense responsibilities,” Jusrist-Rosner said. “Its impact is deeply personal, yet profoundly structural, and it’s becoming universal for nearly every employee and every family.”
Kerry Hannon is a Senior Columnist at Yahoo Finance. She is a career and retirement strategist and the author of 14 books, including the forthcoming “Retirement Bites: A Gen X Guide to Securing Your Financial Future,” “In Control at 50+: How to Succeed in the New World of Work,” and “Never Too Old to Get Rich.” Follow her on Bluesky.
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