Line Up Caregivers for Long Term Care in Advance

That’s the advice from a new AARP study. The study concluded that there simply aren’t going to be enough people available to provide long-term-type care to people who need it in the next few decades. AARP says the problem is identified from simple arithmetic. The Baby Boomers are a large population group and are getting older. They had fewer children than previous generations, make up a higher percentage of the total population, and are living longer. Add all that up and there are fewer people available as potential caregivers when the Boomers need it.

Consider these findings: In 2010, there were 7.2 potential caregivers (ages 45-64 or the average age of caregivers) for every person age 80-plus. In 2030, that caregiver ratio will drop to 4 to 1 and by 2050, when all boomers will be in late life, the ratio becomes less than 3 to 1. In 2050, there will be three times as many people age 80-plus as there are today.

According to Lynn Feinberg, a coauthor of the AARP report, “this means that relying on only your family to provide long-term care may be unrealistic in the future. As a nation we need to think about changes to long-term care that need to begin now, not when the boomers actually need support and care beginning in just 13 years.”