timelets | TIL: Shrinking Caregivers

Today, an estimated 34.2 million people provide unpaid care to those 50 and older. These caregivers, about 95% family, and long the backbone of the nation’s long-term care system, provide an estimated $500 billion worth of free care annually—three times Medicaid’s professional long-term care spending—and help keep people out of costly institutions, according to a 2017 Merrill Lynch study.

But the supply of these caregivers is shrinking just as the nation needs them most. Every day, 10,000 people turn 65. In 2020, there will be 56 million people 65 and older, up from 40 million in 2010.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/america-is-running-out-of-family-caregivers-just-when-it-needs-them-most-1532094538

We are going to have a longevity epidemic.