2014 AARP Caregiving Survey of New Jersey Residents Age 40 and Older: Support for The Caregiver Advise, Record, Enable (CARE) Act and the New Jersey Caregiver’s Assistance Act

New Jersey caregivers have provided care in a myriad of ways: more than eight in ten have helped with household management activities like shopping (86%), transportation (85%), and chores (84%), and seven in ten are helping to manage finances for their loved ones (79%). As the care needs of their loved ones increase, many caregivers assist with more complex care such as medication management (73%), and other medical tasks (72%).

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The CARE ACT bill features three important provisions that requires hospitals to engage with caregivers by recording the name of the family caregiver when a loved one is admitted into a hospital; notifying the caregiver if the loved one is to be discharged to another facility or back home; and providing instructions on the medical tasks the family caregiver may need to perform at home. More than 85 percent of New Jerseyans age 40 and older support instituting each of these measures. Republicans and Democrats alike support these measures.

New Jersey residents age 40 and older overwhelmingly support the measures in the New Jersey Caregiver’s Assistance Act which would provide a tax credit for caregivers.

AARP New Jersey commissioned a telephone survey of 1,000 New Jersey residents age 40 and older to learn about their experiences with family caregiving. This report highlights results from residents interviewed between April 11 and April 24, 2014. The data in this report has been weighted by age and gender to reflect the New Jersey population age 40 and older. For more information, contact Cheryl Barnes at cbarnes@aarp.org.