What Does Caregiving Cost?

According to conservative estimates, the economic value of the unpaid, informal care friends and family provide nationwide is $306 billion per year. This figure dwarfs the annual national spending for formal home health care and formal nursing home care, which totals about $158 billion.

In 2002, almost half of U.S. workers provided some form of caregiving. In a study of employers, more than two-thirds reported staffing problems related to an increase in caregiving in the last 10 years. Yet 40% had no plan in place to assist employees who are caregivers. This lack of planning costs U.S. businesses dearly. Employers lose an estimated $17.1 billion each year, and attribute this loss to their employees’ need to care for family members over age 50.