The value of caregiving work - 2023 08 29

 

"Women average about 52 minutes per day caring for children and other family members..."

From https://fortune.com/2023/08/14/women-caregiving-missed-pay/

Based on this average amount of caregiving per day, and rated at $14.55/hr (per child-care workers or home health aides), the article states that family caregiving is worth approximately $4,600 per year.

The article does not state whether this is per care recipient (ie. per child or a multi-generational household). However, the metric that family caregiving only requires 52 minutes per day does not explain the negative impact of family caregiving on socio-economic vulnerabilities for caregiving families.

It makes no sense.

We need a time / materials study of family caregiving homes to quantify the work that is being carried out day to day to provide caregiving beds for family members who cannot fend for themselves. We need to understand how much time, effort, expenditures, and lost opportunities need to be factored to understand the known costs of family caregiving and the value of that care.

We are not going to change a system that perpetuates myths about family caregiving but has no quantified data to provide a baseline for discussion, let alone conclusions about what is needed.

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