AARP CEO: The Joys and Challenges of Caregiving

Jacquelyn J. Revere’s life changed in an instant.

She was hundreds of miles away when a phone call came—her mother’s longtime friend urging her to fly home right away. Something was wrong.

Revere, then 29 and building a career in television writing, took a 21-day leave of absence and flew across the country to California. She arrived to find her grandmother in the advanced stages of dementia—and her mother, confused and unable to manage daily life. The mortgage hadn’t been paid. Letters of foreclosure were arriving.

Revere quickly realized both her grandmother and her mother needed full-time support. As an only child, with limited financial options and few local caregiving resources, she left her job, her friends and her home to begin a new role—family caregiver, which she fulfilled until first her grandmother and then her mother passed away.

“Becoming a caregiver at 29 changed my life,” Revere says. “It’s an all-consuming task. It asks for every part of you—and parts of you that you don’t even know yet.”

She managed meals, medications, doctor visits and the emotional toll of watching a parent decline. Her focus: to bring comfort and joy to the woman who had raised her and a grandmother she adored.

Revere’s story is powerful and unique—but she is not alone. In the United States, an estimated 63 million adults are providing ongoing care for an adult or a child with a complex medical condition or a disability. That’s a staggering 45 percent increase since 2015. Among them are approximately 16 million “sandwich generation” caregivers who juggle care for both older and younger generations. These are some of the key findings from “Caregiving in the U.S. 2025,” a major new survey conducted by AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving.

The data reveals the scale of caregiving—and the mounting pressures caregivers face.

It lands at a pivotal moment. As the demand for care grows, so do the stakes. Policymakers, employers and health systems must respond to the realities of modern caregiving.

Family caregivers contribute an estimated $600 billion in unpaid care to our economy each year. That’s why AARP is pushing for strong policy action—including a family caregiver tax credit—to help caregivers recover out-of-pocket costs and protect their financial security.

We’re also proud that 62 percent of caregivers in our recent national tracking survey have used at least one AARP caregiving resource over the past three years.

Jacquelyn Revere’s story reminds us that behind every statistic is a person stepping up in love, often without a guidebook. We must match their commitment with our own.