The denotation of caregiving is the activity or job that offers regular care to people who are sick, disabled, or old. It is one of the hardest professions because this will require mental strength, physical effort, critical-thinking skill, and other abilities needed to perform the work better. The common areas where caregivers are hired include but not limited to homes for the aged, nursing homes, and houses of their clients. You probably are wondering how caregivers contribute to the economy and how would this industry survive. Well, there are a lot of predictions about caregiving that were published years ago.
There are different kinds of caregivers, but the most common are the ones you can hire from an agency or those members of your family that are free and willing to become a caregiver. For the latter, he must be ready to stand up for the responsibility and make changes in his life. Eleanor Gaccetta, for instance, has her career going swiftly when her mother had an accident. She instantly became her mother’s family caregiver and it lasted up more than 9 years. Because of that experience, she wrote a book documenting her caregiving journey with a glimpse of Gaccetta’s prerequisite to becoming a caregiver, struggles of caregiver, and the likes.
According to Family Caregiver Alliance National Center on Caregiving, caregiving is a vital portion of the daily life of millions of families all around the US. As the ages of the population are adding up, several families are taking care of an elder at their houses, and a growing figure of individuals will require a lot of caring in the future. This industry has a great effect on the increasing number of people needing care and also on their direct families and places of work.
Based on the past researches, there are a 60 percent of caregivers that joined the workforce last year where more than 50% of them are employed full-time. 49 years old is the average age of most care providers. The aforementioned age is considered as the highest point for incomes and career successes for most caregivers. Moreover, females are considered as the people who are more responsible in providing care than males.
However, based on The Aging of the Baby Boom and the Growing Care Gap: A Look at Future Declines in the Availability of Family Caregivers by Redfoot, Feinberg, and Houser, 20 years after 1990 is the period where boomers enters the caregiving stages resulting for the increase demand for caregivers. 2010 to 2030, moreover, will serve as a time for transition as the baby boomers become adults and the ratio of the caregivers falls. Lastly, the time from 2030 until 2050 contains the aged boomers probably ages from 80 and above. It will be the years that they become physically week and vulnerable to diseases. The need for caregivers is still expected to constantly decline on that period.
The prediction posted in World Economic Forum is in contrast to what is stated above. It shows how the fertility rate in the population is declining while the death toll among elders is rising. Hence, the need for caregivers for elderly suddenly burst out. Due to America’s good healthcare system, people who are 60 years old and up in this generation are doing better than those of the past. However, the estimate conducted by the American Association of Retired Persons states that almost 50% of the 65 year old individuals will be requiring some sort of a prolonged care. The mentioned long-term care might be provided by a stay-in caregiver, nursing home, or such.
There is also a predicted huge shortage of caregivers when the time comes. It cannot be denied that the salary will affect the workforce in this field and will contribute to the shortage. The average annual pay of caregivers is at $13,000; hence, making caregiving an unappealing and impractical job. Ten years from now, the shortage of over a hundred thousand of care providers for the adults and seniors will take place. In 2050, it is estimated that one in 5 seniors will be 60 years old and up; and, 80% of them will start to reside in nations that are low to middle income.
In conclusion, the future is really not something that we can see. These thorough predictions may come to life or not, all you have to do is to wait and see.
The Damsel’s Files 