Long-Term Care Crisis Looms For Baby Boomers And Their Parents
Many members of the baby-boom generation are not preparing adequately for their own potential long-term care requirements or the needs of their elderly parents, according to two recently published research reports. A survey of 400 women between the ages of 30 and 64 conducted by Securian Financial Group showed that 60% of respondents agree that it is a child’s duty to care for aging parents. When asked who in their family might provide that care, 70% of the women surveyed whose parents are both living said that they will likely become the responsible family member.
Among respondents with two living parents, 22% predicted they will take time off work to care for aging parents, while 52% said they did not expect to take time off. Securian researchers noted, however, that a study by the AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving found that at least 60% of employed adult caregivers adjust their work schedules to accommodate their eldercare responsibilities, while 9% leave the workplace and 10% reduce their hours.
The Securian survey also revealed that many women are unprepared to handle the sudden onset of a parent’s health problems: 84% of respondents with a parent who has received nursing care indicated that no plans were made until the care was needed.
Almost half of all the women surveyed told researchers they are concerned about the quality of nursing home care their parents will receive because their own financial resources are limited, and 32% said they are worried about the quality of care becauseof their parents’ financial limitations.
“Most women will face the challenge of caring for their parents at some point in their lives,” said Kim Anderson, product manager for long-term care insurance at Securian. “Our survey indicates that women can do more to prepare themselves and their families for it—financially, emotionally and in terms of time demands and where the care will be given.”
Results further showed that a large percentage of women are not saving enough for their own retirement years. The survey found that 62% of respondents are concerned that their money will not last through retirement, and 57% reported that they have little money to put away for retirement after meeting their financial obligations.
“It’s important for women to plan, as much as they are able, for this phase of their lives and their parents’ lives,” said Sherri DuMond, national recruiting vice president, Securian. “That includes having discussions with family members about their wishes and planning financially so realistic goals can be set.”
A recently released study by economists at the Urban Institute attempted to predict future demand for long-term care among the baby-boom generation and looked at how changing family structure will likely affect institutions and paid caregivers. The analysis combined results from models of current long-term care arrangements with simulations of the size and characteristics of future population.
When researchers assumed that overall disability rates among the people age 65 and older will decline at an annual rate of 1%, they concluded that, between 2000 and 2040, the size of the disabled older population will grow by more than 50%, the number of elderly people using paid home care will expand by three-quarters, and the number of older people in nursing homes will increase by two-thirds. When researchers ran the simulation without assuming any particular trend in current disability rates, results showed that both the number of seniors receiving paid home care and the number of older people living in nursing homes will more than double between 2000 and 2040.
Taking into account the decline in the average family size and the expected improvement in women’s earning prospects, researchers further predicted that, between 2000 and 2040, the share of disabled adults receiving paid help will increase from 22% to 26%, while the share of disabled older people receiving help from children will decrease from 28% to 24%.
Given the projected growth in demand for paid long-term care services, the study’s authors recommended that policy makers promote private long-term care insurance and investigate expanding Medicaid and Medicare to make paid services more affordable.
