Women’s Health Concerns Overshadowed By Financial Strain

The gap is not about motivation. It’s about awareness. And financial strain makes it harder to close.

Onstage in Cleveland, Minter-Jordan pointed to a striking shift in women’s sense of financial stability. According to AARP research, more than half of women 50 and older feel less financially secure than they did a year ago. 

Caregiving can change the financial picture

For millions of women, financial strain accumulates when years of unpaid caregiving are added in. Of the 63 million caregivers in our country, 61 percent are women, Minter-Jordan said.

“Women are carrying an enormous caregiving burden, often providing 40 hours of care a week or more while also working and caring for their families. We need to continue raising visibility around the realities caregivers face every day.” As she’s traveled the country meeting with AARP members, she said, the financial toll has become clear. Caregivers report spending more than $7,000 out of pocket annually.

That load lands hardest at midlife, when women may also be managing menopause, chronic conditions, aging parents, helping adult children and trying to fill their own retirement savings gap.

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A woman who cuts hours, leaves work, pays out of pocket for care and skips her own appointments is not just under financial strain. She may also be living with chronic stress, which research has linked to higher dementia risk, as it can trigger inflammation, which accelerates cognitive decline.

Many women doing that work do not call themselves caregivers. Minter-Jordan said the first step is simply naming what you are doing. Owning the word “caregiver,” she argued, is not a burden. It is the beginning of getting help.

“The first step is being able to say, ‘I am a caregiver,’ and to say it with pride,” Minter-Jordan said. “ ‘I am caring for someone out of love, out of responsibility, because I need to and because I have to.’ Recognizing that role is the beginning of getting the support and resources caregivers deserve.”

Shriver acknowledged one of the barriers that keeps women from asking for help. “There’s a lot of shame I find when speaking to caregivers that they feel like they should be able to manage it all,” she said.

Policy can shape the choices women have

Minter-Jordan said AARP is advocating for the Credit for Caring Act, which would provide a tax credit of up to $5,000 for eligible working family caregivers, and the Lowering Costs for Caregivers Act, which would allow a family caregiver to use their health savings account or flexible spending account for a parent or parent-in-law’s qualified medical expenses. AARP has also supported the CARE Act at the state level, which requires hospitals to record the name of a family caregiver and include that person in discharge planning.

These measures address a basic problem: Family caregivers often carry major responsibilities without enough financial protection, training or recognition.

Minter-Jordan also connected caregiving to other financial concerns affecting older adults, including retirement security, age-friendly workplaces, fraud prevention, Social Security and Medicare. She added: “We fight for Social Security. We also fight for access to Medicare.” Preventing scams and fraud is another priority.

“Scams and frauds are impacting older adults at an exponential rate,” Minter-Jordan said, adding that those losses often drain the financial reserves women count on in retirement.

Women have rewritten the odds before

Women will take action when they understand the risks, the Cleveland Clinic report noted. 

This has been the case for other health issues as well. Pike drew parallels with how mammograms and Pap smears became routine parts of women’s care. Pap smears and mammograms were implemented because women demanded them. “What did it take?” Minter-Jordan said. “It took women demanding them in physicians’ offices for that movement to get started.”

Dr. Beri Ridgeway, cofounder of the Cleveland Clinic Women’s Comprehensive Health and Research Center, added, “When you look at the outcomes of breast cancer now compared to 20, 30 years ago, it’s a completely different disease, and that was because of grassroots efforts. And now it’s the time to do it for the brain and for whole health.”

Pike pushed the idea further: “What’s good for the heart is good for the brain. Well, it’s time to now say what’s good for the brain is good for the rest of the body.”

Minter-Jordan had some final advice. “Whatever challenges we experience as women, chances are another woman has experienced them too,” she said. “That is why community matters. By connecting with one another and tapping into organizations like ours, women can access the tools, resources and support they need to navigate the next phase of life with greater confidence and stability.”

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_{The key takeaways were created with the assistance of generative AI. An AARP editor reviewed and refined the content for accuracy and clarity.}