Valuing the Invaluable: A New Look at the Economic Value of Family Caregiving
Source: AARP Policy & Research

The contributions of America’s family caregivers, along with many friends and neighbors, often go unrecognized in public policy discussions about the financing and costs of health care and long-term services and supports. Yet these unpaid caregivers provide by far the majority of long-term services and supports received by persons with disabilities of all ages.

Not only are their contributions the foundation of the nation’s long-term care system, but are an important component of the U.S. economy, with an estimated economic value of about $350 billion in 2006. Public policies to alleviate stress on caregivers could be implemented at a small fraction of the value of their contributions.

+ In Brief (PDF; 451 KB)
+ Data Digest: State Profiles (PDF; 573 KB)

This entry was posted on Monday, June 25th, 2007 at 7:30 pm and is filed under Business and economics, Children and families, Consumer issues, Health and healthcare, Social and cultural issues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.