Long-Term Care and Women

More than seven out of ten unpaid caregivers are women. A 1996 national telephone survey conducted by the National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP showed the considerable burdens of caregiving on older women. The study reported that the average age of caregivers was forty-six, with about one in four caregivers being between fifty and sixty-four. More than one in ten of the caregivers was sixty-five or older.

Caregiving involves a range of activities, from helping a family member every day with bathing, dressing, and eating to providing transportation to a doctor or paying bills and handling other financial matters. Almost half of all the caregivers surveyed provided at least eight hours of care a week. Women caregivers made up almost four-fifths of the caregivers providing more than forty hours a week of care.