Families who have elderlies or family member in need of care often look to caregivers. The number of family caregivers continues to rise in the United States. But while they are capable of providing care to other people, sometimes they are the ones who need care the most.
The Huffington Post looked into the status of caregivers in the country and found some "cringe-worthy" facts. These include about 60 percent of caregivers who live with the person they are caring, which means they are on-call 24/7. More than half of them are caring for their spouse, which makes things worse because they are more prone to higher rates of stress and depression.
The number of people that live in a nursing home has also declined to just 22 percent now because caregiving has grown to be an expectation from a family member. Most of them are well on their way to a different life until they had to switch their career into caregiving. If not totally giving up their current jobs, caregiving results in part-timers having missed work or making adjustments in their work schedules. To make things more cringe-worthy, instead of receiving pay for their caregiving, 42 percent of family caregivers are actually spending some $5,000 on caregiving-related expenses, such as food, clothing, transportation and medical care.
As family caregiving could take a big bite on someone's job, income, and retirement, both nominees for the president of the U.S. position, Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton, are proposing benefits for family caregivers. As reported by Fortune, Trump's proposal includes allowing people to deduct up to $5,000 a year for the cost of elder care that a family member would need so he could keep working outside their home, as well as creating a tax-sheltered Dependent Care Savings Account, which will cover elder and child care expenses. On one hand, Hilary Clinton wants to expand Social Security for those who have to spend their time taking care of an elderly, children, or sick family member. However, while the proposals are well-intentioned, financial experts say a careful plan is needed to be committed.
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