- 17 Jun 2024 16:29
#15318528
As the baby boomer generation, born between 1946 and 1964, enters the period of life when, statistically, most people need some form of care, experts say that more millennials (as well as Gen X and Gen Z Americans) will find themselves in a position needing to provide support to an older relative with everything from specialized medical care to handling paperwork to daily tasks such as bathing and eating.
Americans are having kids later in life, meaning they are more likely to find themselves in a "sandwich generation", caring for elderly parents and young kids at the same time. Nearly 25 percent of American adults and more than half of people in their 40s are "sandwiched", with at least one child to support and at least one parent over 65.
Women, who have historically done the bulk of both elder and child care, are more likely than ever to have careers and be breadwinners. Many won't be able to get time off work to provide the complex, ongoing assistance that many boomers will require. And they can't afford to quit - faced with the Great Recession followed by the pandemic, younger workers, especially Black and non-college-educated millennials, don't have the accumulated wealth necessary to cushion any prolonged period of unemployment or to shoulder a relative's expenses.
"We are in a crisis of care," said Carlene Davis, co-founder of the nonprofit Sistahs Aging With Grace & Elegance (SAGE).
Baby boomers are aging. Their kids aren't ready. Anna North, Vox, Dec 2023
https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/ ... 4fca&ei=29
Women are traditionally the caretakers and have provided this essential role in society.
However, in modern times, nearly all women are working full-time, and due to falling marriage rates many women are single or cannot rely on their male partner. With the soaring costs of housing (and recent cost of living crisis and inflation) women are having to constantly work full-time just to pay the rent and basic bills. Most of these women cannot afford to take any time off work to care of an older adult relative.
Some of you will point out that a caregiver could be hired, or the older relative could be put in a care home. But that is even MORE expensive than the woman's loss of income if she took time off work (at least for the median income female worker).
That is simply not an economically viable solution for society, nor does it make mathematical, logical, and financial sense, in many cases.
A care home can tend to be more expensive because a separate building has to be provided, and then there are numerous business expenses that do not exist in a home setting. The presence of legal liability is also a factor that raises costs. And then workers have to be present in shifts throughout the day, so the economics of scale does not really reduce labor costs much.
This is probably going to put a huge amount of stress on a big chunk of people in society. (I would estimate a third to half of people are going to find themselves having to care for an older parent)
It will also be a big financial burden. This is something of a crisis in society, from a health and economics standpoint.
Yet another problem is that nobody wants to work in these care homes, providing care to elderly strangers who are not their family.
This will put more pressure on the society to bring in more workers from foreign countries, but that likely could just end up an unsustainable pyramid scheme, because what will eventually happen when those low-paid workers eventually became old? And this problem has already begun to manifest in countries like the U.K. and Germany. (These foreign workers stay and do not go home)
Americans are having kids later in life, meaning they are more likely to find themselves in a "sandwich generation", caring for elderly parents and young kids at the same time. Nearly 25 percent of American adults and more than half of people in their 40s are "sandwiched", with at least one child to support and at least one parent over 65.
Women, who have historically done the bulk of both elder and child care, are more likely than ever to have careers and be breadwinners. Many won't be able to get time off work to provide the complex, ongoing assistance that many boomers will require. And they can't afford to quit - faced with the Great Recession followed by the pandemic, younger workers, especially Black and non-college-educated millennials, don't have the accumulated wealth necessary to cushion any prolonged period of unemployment or to shoulder a relative's expenses.
"We are in a crisis of care," said Carlene Davis, co-founder of the nonprofit Sistahs Aging With Grace & Elegance (SAGE).
Baby boomers are aging. Their kids aren't ready. Anna North, Vox, Dec 2023
https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/ ... 4fca&ei=29
Women are traditionally the caretakers and have provided this essential role in society.
However, in modern times, nearly all women are working full-time, and due to falling marriage rates many women are single or cannot rely on their male partner. With the soaring costs of housing (and recent cost of living crisis and inflation) women are having to constantly work full-time just to pay the rent and basic bills. Most of these women cannot afford to take any time off work to care of an older adult relative.
Some of you will point out that a caregiver could be hired, or the older relative could be put in a care home. But that is even MORE expensive than the woman's loss of income if she took time off work (at least for the median income female worker).
That is simply not an economically viable solution for society, nor does it make mathematical, logical, and financial sense, in many cases.
A care home can tend to be more expensive because a separate building has to be provided, and then there are numerous business expenses that do not exist in a home setting. The presence of legal liability is also a factor that raises costs. And then workers have to be present in shifts throughout the day, so the economics of scale does not really reduce labor costs much.
This is probably going to put a huge amount of stress on a big chunk of people in society. (I would estimate a third to half of people are going to find themselves having to care for an older parent)
It will also be a big financial burden. This is something of a crisis in society, from a health and economics standpoint.
Yet another problem is that nobody wants to work in these care homes, providing care to elderly strangers who are not their family.
This will put more pressure on the society to bring in more workers from foreign countries, but that likely could just end up an unsustainable pyramid scheme, because what will eventually happen when those low-paid workers eventually became old? And this problem has already begun to manifest in countries like the U.K. and Germany. (These foreign workers stay and do not go home)
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