Every five years, the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) and the National Alliance for Caregiving examine the impact of caregiving on the United States. The insights they obtain through this research help them in their effort to persuade Congress members to vote a particular way on Legislation related to caregivers. Personally, the information helps me know who is currently providing care and what type of information they might need related to caregiving. For instance, the information on the age of the care recipient and the most prevalent medical conditions tells me that dual diagnosis is a serious challenge for many caregivers.
What Did the Report Disclose about the “Typical USA Caregiver? Who is this Person?
Compiling all the data together into one and choosing the highest rating in each demographic area, the “typical” caregiver looks like this” a non-Hispanic, white (61%) woman (61%) around the age of 51 living in a rural area (20%) providing care to her elderly Mom and Dad, both over the age of 75. (Note: the numbers in parentheses represent the percentage for that category) The caregiver/daughter lives next door but spends the night with her parents because her mom wanders out of the house, despite the locks on the windows and doors. She receives no compensation for the care she provides her parents, nor does she receive government assistance to help hire additional caregiving help. Although her parents are eligible for medical Care through Medicare and have a supplement, they do not qualify for Medicaid home health assistance due to their retirement income. After a recent hospitalization, they received home health visits for three weeks. Still, all the nurse did was check vital signs and verify that her mom was taking her medication appropriately. They offered no teaching, nor did they provide any. The daughter’s health is steadily declining due to lack of sleep, no exercise, and eating on the run.
Based on my conversations with many caregivers I’ve met during hospitalization, the above is a good description of most family situations. However, let’s look at the actual numbers.
How We Might Describe a Caregiver
The information in the chart below compares caregiver demographics over the past ten years. To ensure an “apples to apples” comparison, they made statistical adjustments before publication. Demographics appear relatively consistent. White, married women between the ages of 35 and 65 continue as the predominant American caretakers. The increase indicated for the multi-racial category is a misrepresentation due to a change in the data collection process.
I do note one interesting trend not mentioned by the AARP report. Notice for caregivers in the age range of 18-34. The percentage is beginning to show a decline. A cultural change happening in white middle America recognizes young adults establishing boundaries with their parents and not assisting with care for parents or grandparents once they have families of their own. Young adults in some areas of the country are refusing to accept caregiving responsibilities for older family members, citing that they must focus on their own families instead. If this trend continues, we will face a significant problem in the future regarding the care of the elderly.
Topic | 2015 | 2020 | 2025 |
| Topic | 2015 | 2020 | 2025 |
| Caregiver Gender |
|
|
| Race |
| ||
Female | 60% | 61% | 61% | NH-W | 62% | 61% | 61% | |
Male | 40% | 39% | 38% | AA-B | 13% | 14% | 13% | |
| Caregiver Age |
|
| H-Lat | 17% | 17% | 16% | |
18-34 | 24% | 24% | 18% | A/NH/PI | 6% | 5% | 6% | |
35-49 | 23% | 23% | 26% | I/A/MlR | 2% | 3% | 7% | |
50-64 | 34% | 35 | 33% | Marital Status | ||||
65-74 | 12% | 12% | 14% | Married | 57% | 54% | 54% | |
75+ | 7% | 7% | 8% | Cohabitation | 8% | 7% | 10% | |
<7 | 7% or 4 million | Never married | 19% | 21% | 21% | |||
Not married now | 5% | 11% | 8% | |||||
Abbreviations: NH-W = Non-Hispanic- White, AA-B=African American-Black, H-Lat=Hispanic-Latino, A/NH/PI=Asian American/Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, I/A/MIR+=American Indian, Alaska Native, or multiracial
Caregiver’s Homelife
In the Caregiver’s Homelife table below, I will ignore the 79% in the “Not Rural” section because, in 2015, participants could only choose between rural and non-rural options. Looking at the other two, I see that most caregiving occurs in the suburbs, with urban America close behind. Those with more money are more likely to provide care than those with less, which makes sense because individuals with lower incomes may not be able to afford to take in someone who requires more resources than most people. Furthermore, those with lower incomes often need to work overtime. Who would be available to stay with the care receiver while the caregiver worked a second job?
Topic | 2015 | 2020 | 2025 |
| Topic | 2015 | 2020 | 2025 |
Caregiver’s Home Location |
| Caregiver Income (net) | ||||||
Not rural | 84% | 88% | 79% | < $50,000 | 30% | 36% | 30% | |
Urban | NA | NA | 35% | $50,000+ | 53% | 64% | 70% | |
Suburban | NA | NA | 44% | Median | $54,700 | $70,200 | $68,770 | |
Rural | 16% | 12% | 20% | |||||
Location of Care Receiver Home and Their Age
Notice below the age of the care receiver versus the percentage related to where they live. It appears that at least half of the people receiving care over the age of 75 still live at home. This survey does not indicate whether they live alone or with someone else. However, I bet many of them live alone.
Topic | 2020 | 2025 |
| Topic | 2025 |
Where the Care Receiver Lives |
| Care receiver age |
| ||
Recipient’s Own Home | 43% | 44% | 18-34 | 8% | |
Caregiver’s Home | 40% | 40% | 35-49 | 6% | |
Someone Else’s Home | 5% | 5% | 50-64 | 16% | |
Long-Term Care Facility | 3% | 2% | 65-74 | 22% | |
Assisted Living Facility | 4% | 4% | 75+ | 48% | |
Independent Living/Retirement Community | 2% | 2% | |||
Care Receiver Medical Conditions
Now look at their medical conditions. Forty-eight percent of these individuals live alone or with a family member. How difficult it must be for them to live alone with a long-term medical condition complicated by a mental health condition that most certainly complicates their ability to care for themselves at home safely.
Types of Care Recipient Conditions |
| Primary Care Recipient Condition | |||||
| 2020 | 2025 |
| Aging | 13% | Diabetes | 4% |
Short-term Physical Care | 30% | 33% | Dementia | 11% | Heart | 4% | |
Long-term Physical Care | 63% | 63% | Mobility | 8% | Other | 4% | |
Emotional/mental health | 27% | 28% | Cancer | 7% | Stroke | 4% | |
Memory problem | 32% | 34% | Surgical, wounds | 6% | Arthritis | 3% | |
Behavioral Issues | 8% | 10% | Frail, Falling | 5% | Broken bone | 3% | |
Dev. Intellectual disorder | 9% | 11% | Mental/Emotion | 5% | Devel/Intellect | 2% | |
Back | 4% | Parkinson | 2% | ||||
Lung | 2% | Vision | 2% | ||||
Who is Caring for Whom?
When someone steps in to care for a care receiver at home, who is it? The table below shows who is taking Care of whom in America. Young adults and middle-aged individuals (18-49) often care for their parents and grandparents. Spouses usually require care assistance beginning around age 65-74, with those aged 75 providing care most often. If the 75-year-old spouse is the primary caregiver, the question is how long she can sustain it. Providing care for any length would be a health risk for her as well. Hopefully, other caregivers support both the spouse and this 75-year-old caregiver. There is a concern about whether she can. However, I hope that the care listed under “parent” incorporates the care provided to both the spouse and his 75-year-old caretaker. Duplicate roles make this a bit challenging to interpret.
While the other categories appear not to receive support, they likely receive some under the alternative; however, that might also be part of the different groups, such as parents or spouses. For example, an adult child may also be a parent receiving care from their child. Therefore, the last four may not have accurate data.
Who is Caring for Whom? | Caregiver’s Age | ||||
How often is this the relation of the caregiver to the care receiver? | 18-49 | 50-64 | 65-74 | 75+ | |
Relative | 89% | na | na | na | na |
Parent/Parent-in-law | 47% | 49% | 60% | 34% | 8% |
Spouse/Partner | 15% | 7% | 12% | 27% | 48% |
Grandparent/in-law | 8% | 18% | 1% | 0% | 0% |
Sibling/In-Law | 4% | 4% | 6% | 11% | 13% |
Adult Child | 6% | 3% | 8% | 6% | 9% |
Other Relative | 6% | 8% | 5% | 6% | 7% |
Non-relative | 11% | 11% | 8% | 16% | 16% |
What Types of Tasks do Caregivers Perform?
Below are tasks common to all caregivers. Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) encompass all the tasks necessary to care for a person from sunrise to sunset, including hygiene, meal preparation, and assistance with mobility. Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs) are tasks required to “manage” life, which include handling finances, shopping, medication management, transportation, and the thousand and one phone calls to the doctor and insurance offices, etc.
Repetitive caregiving tasks like cleaning up after an “accident” consume time since they occur more frequently, but IADLs are time-consuming due to the need to be away from home and travel to and from. All external tasks, due to the distance travel and the abundance of activities associated with them, make those tasks difficult because they interfere with everyday routines. Anything that interferes with a routine schedule is a complication to normalcy.
Another development in measuring the complexity of caregiving is the increasing number of people performing nursing tasks. Formerly, family caregivers did not do skilled nursing procedures. Now, healthcare professionals offload their functions to family members after a brief training presentation. Sometimes the training is nothing more than a piece of paper with step-by-step instructions or a YouTube link demonstrating the technique, or it may be a promise of a home health visit that could or could not materialize before it’s needed.
In addition to performing the above tasks at home, 61% of caregivers also worked a full-time job. Only 30% of caregivers did not work outside the home in addition to their caregiving responsibilities.
Activities of Daily Living ADL Tasks | % |
| Instrumental Activities of Daily Living IADL | % |
Help with any ADL | 22% |
| Any IADL | 99% |
Getting in/out of bed/chairs | 26% |
| Grocery or other shopping | 81% |
Getting Dressed | 28% |
| Transportation | 79% |
Bathing or Showers | 31% |
| Housework | 77% |
Feeding | 35% |
| Preparing Meals | 67% |
Getting on and off the toilet | 45% |
| Managing finances | 58% |
Dealing with incontinence | 65% |
| Giving medicine, etc. | 55% |
| Arranging outside services | 36% | ||
Perform Nursing Tasks | ||||
Caregiver performing Nursing tasks | 55% |
| Caregivers receiving training for nursing tasks performed; tasks reported as difficult for them | 22% |
Caregivers who do not perform nursing tasks | 42% |
| 58% women and 51% male caregivers perform nursing tasks | |
Worked while Caregiving | ||||
Worked while caregiving – yes | 70% | Worked while caregiving – no | 30% | |
Average hours worked | 35.6 |
| 30-39 | 14% |
<30 | 24% |
| 40+ | 61% |
AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving developed a method to measure the actual difficulty of each caregiver’s job. They considered factors such as the number of hours worked per week, the number of tasks performed in ADLs and IADLs, etc. I’ve provided the details to show you the method used to determine the assigned levels. The most significant area I see is in level 5. At both the regular and expanded levels of the index, we observe a considerable increase. It seems that caregiving is becoming increasingly challenging over time. I never would have guessed that, would you?
Level of Care Indices
Level of Care Index | |||||
Levels | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Low Intensity | Med Inten | High Intensity 44% | |||
2025 | 22% | 15% | 19% | 27% | 17% |
2020 | 27% | 16% | 16% | 27% | 14% |
Expanded Level of Care Index | |||||
Low Intensity | Med Inten | High Intensity 57% | |||
2025 | 17% | 11% | 15% | 26% | 31% |
2020 | 18% | 14% | 16% | 26% | 26% |
Level of Care Index Scoring
Measures hours spent providing care per week. | Points | List the Different Types of Care Provided (ADL-care performed every day) (IADL – business, non-physical care) | Points | Total Points from Cols. A + B | Level of care | Intensity i.e., difficulty of the work | ||
0-8 hrs | 1 | 0 ADLs, 1 IADL | 1 | 2-3 | 1 | Low | ||
9-20 hrs | 2 | 0 ADLs, 2+ IADL | 2 | 4 | 2 | Low | ||
21-40 hrs | 3 | 1 ADLs, any # IADL | 3 | 5 | 3 | Medium | ||
41 /+ hrs | 4 | 2+ ADLs, any # IADL | 4 | 6-7 | 4 | High | ||
Col. A | Col. B | 8 | 5 | High |
Expanded Level of Care Index
Scoring measures for Ease of Care Coordination | Points | Scoring measures for Presence of other paid/unpaid help | Points | Total Points from Col. A+B | Level of Care | Intensity of Care | ||
Does not do coordination of Care | 1 | Has both unpaid and paid help | 1 | 4-7 | 1 | Low complexity | ||
Care coordination is easy | 2 | Has only paid help or shares unpaid caregiving equally with others | 2 | 8 | 2 | Low complexity | ||
Care coordination is somewhat difficult. | 3 | Has no paid help and has some unpaid help, but is the primary unpaid caregiver | 3 | 9 | 3 | Medium complexity | ||
Care coordination is very difficult | 4 | Has neither paid nor unpaid help (is the sole caregiver) | 4 | 10-11 | 4 | High complexity | ||
Col. A | Col. B | 12 + | 5 | High complexity |
That’s enough data from the report for now. I’ll share more later, perhaps, but numbers can be boring. I primarily want you to know that they use the information constructively to improve the lives of caregivers and care receivers. Although it may seem obvious, it offers valuable insight. I hope it also gave you clarity into where you fit into the role of caregiving. You’re not alone. Many others are struggling too. I hope some of the resources you find on this website will help you find ways to make that battle better.
Acknowledgments: Caregiving in the US 2025 by AARP & National Alliance for Caregiving Published July 24, 2025
