President Obama has proclaimed November 2009 National Family Caregivers Month. It’s a time for us as a nation to celebrate the estimated 50 million caregivers around the country. Of course, these husbands, wives, friends, and neighbors deserve our year-round appreciation and gratitude. Just consider some of the statistics from the National Family Caregivers Association:
- The value of the services family caregivers provide for "free" is estimated to be $306 billion a year. That is almost twice as much as is spent on homecare and nursing home services combined ($158 billion).
- Women who are family caregivers are two-and-a-half times more likely than non-caregivers to live in poverty and five times more likely to receive Supplemental Security Income.
- The typical family caregiver is a 46-year-old woman caring for her widowed mother who does not live with her. She is married and employed. Approximately 60 percent of family caregivers are women.
Last month we saw the release of The Shriver Report: A Woman’s Nation Changes Everything, which addresses the status of women in the United States, including our accomplishments and where there is still room for improvement. The report stresses the need for a public system that reflects the changing workforce. To complement The Shriver Report, AAUW has provided a set of policy recommendations, some of which deal directly with caregiving. Specifically, we recommend
· Expanding the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), so any leave taken under FMLA is paid.
· Enacting the Healthy Families Act, so full-time employees would accrue seven paid sick days, and part-time employees would receive a prorated amount.
· Changing work policies to give employees control over their schedules. Caregivers need flexible work policies such as job sharing, telecommuting, and the right to request schedule adjustments.
This topic has special meaning for me. My widowed mother celebrates her 85th birthday this week. She lives independently now, in a wonderful continuing care retirement community in the Phoenix, Arizona, area, and she and I have started to discuss the future and her concern to not burden my brother and me. Mom has planned ahead, but what of the many others who have not?
