Caregiving
Staying the Course: Trends in Family Caregiving
Research Report
Brenda C. Spillman, The Urban Institute
Kirsten J. Black, The Urban Institute
November 2005
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Using data from the National Long-Term Care Surveys from 1984 through 1999, this AARP Public Policy Issue Paper by Brenda C. Spillman and Kirsten J. Black of the Urban Institute examines trends in disability and formal (paid) and informal (unpaid) care among persons age 65 or older with disabilities since the mid-1980s, as well as characteristics of all older persons with disabilities, their care arrangements, and their family members and family caregivers in 1994 and 1999.
The study found that family caregivers continue to provide the vast majority of the long-term care received by older persons with disabilities in the U.S. Between 1994 and 1999, the number of spouses and children providing care to older persons increased while the use of formal care by these individuals declined. The proportion relying solely on family care increased dramatically over the same period. Family members were caring for persons with higher levels of disability in 1999 than in 1994, and both family caregivers and care recipients were older, with nearly 40 percent of caregiving children of parents age 85 or older in 1999, compared with 34 percent in 1994. (40 pages)
Pub ID: 2005-17