There is an institutional crisis brewing in the US economy and workforce — family caregiving. The dual employment issue caused by employed workers having to provide unpaid family care at the same time as performing their job roles is not sustainable. These issues will spill out of the home and into our institutions, and we need to do something about it.

There are already big impacts on American businesses, the US economy, and the caregivers and relatives they care for — without major action now, these impacts will snowball into a major institutional problem.

We’ve written in the past about the rising burden of caregiving, the risks to businesses of dual employment, and the need to change our caregiving ideology. Our institutions need to pay attention, because our aging population is creating long-term infrastructure needs, and we’re not prepared. Assuming that employees will continue to take leaves of absence, or just trying to solve the issue with technology is not sustainable.

We thought it would be useful to explore where we are now, how we got here, the risks to our economy, families, businesses, and institutions, and what we can do about it.

“Looking at the rising numbers of older citizens who will need care, and the shrinking numbers of younger people available to care for them, it has been clear for a long time that we are heading toward a serious shortage of caregivers. Changes in and fragmentation of the American family have made things worse.” PBS Newshour

A Summary of Where We Are Now?

Here’s a brief overview of the current situation and the issues we’re facing.

• Every day in the US, 10,000 baby boomers turn 65. There are over 70 million baby boomers, between 54 and 72 years old. As they age, the need to care for this generation is falling to family caregivers.

• As this part of the population ages. There isn’t a social or economic infrastructure in place to support them or the people who care for them.

• The number of caregivers who are employed is growing and will accelerate as more baby boomer relatives require care.

Dual Employment

• The family members who provide caregiving want or have to work. They often “dual-employed” in a paid role at work and an unpaid one in the home, providing care. This challenges both companies and employees, resulting in lost productivity, missed opportunities, and difficulties attracting or retaining talent.
• We do not yet understand the size of the significance of the impact on the workforce and employment. As the caregiving role is an underground labor market.

• In addition at the same time. Both the healthcare industry and technological innovators are pushing more responsibility for family caregivers. Rather than looking at wider or deeper systemic improvements.
• Moreover, our current solutions do not go far enough. As they still focus on the healthcare aspect of keeping this as a Personal family matter. Rather than looking at how government, business, and technology can come together to create a shift.

• Moreover, this will lead to a crisis in the labor market that will have a major workforce and economic ramifications.

• This is an unavoidable, institutional problem that businesses, government, and other stakeholders need to address now.
• Institutional change may be slow, but there are actions that businesses and other directly-impact stakeholders can take.

Let’s explore how we got here and what we can do about it.

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